Naruto Ever After
by LadyArinn
Summary: The happily ever afters of the whole Naruto manga family. A collection of one shots that are all related to each other about the multiple pairings I support from the manga and what happens to them in their futures together. Pairings- ShikaTema, InoCho, NejiTen, NaruHina, KakaSaku, LeeOC, KibaOC
1. Star Filled Eyes, NaruHina

Everyone was happily celebrating the end of the fourth shinobi war and the victory that they had all worked so hard for, cheerily waving away the fact that they came from different ninja villages as they made their momentary friendship and alliances stronger.

Battle stories were quickly exaggerated as each ninja became more and more of a hero in their own tales, though no one could dare take away from the fact that the greatest hero of them all was the one who had not only battled the tailed beasts, Mandara and Tobi/Mandara/Obito, but had also fought in each of the battles, quickly turning the tide of the war and becoming a bright beacon of hope to every shinobi, regardless of which village they were affiliated with.

Though no one could find the hero toasts were happily made in his name with sloppy, drunken ballads sung in his honor, and the whispers of the more sober ninjas quickly spread throughout each of the camps about the fiery ninja's dream -what they had once called an impossible dream- becoming reality.

But said ninja was nowhere around to see, hear, or gloat about any of this. Instead he was sitting in a tree far away from the hubbub, trying to make sense of the situation he found himself in and the turbulent feelings he felt about it all.

He had been able to ignore it as he had tried becoming stronger and then again as he had fought in the war, desperate to save and protect everyone, but with the furious battles now behind him all he had to think about were her words.

It had been the first time anyone had ever spoken them to him that he could remember. Words so precious that he had always thought they could only be given to the other people, the ones less tainted with the evilness of others, the ones who had never had an entire village hate them with no excuses. But she had given him those precious words, had given him that precious hope, and had proven it beyond a doubt by sacrificing herself for him.

He probably should have gone to her right after he had settled everything with Pain, should have taken her somewhere so that they could talk, so that they could figure everything out. So that, maybe, he could hear her say those words to him again, though they'd be facing each other properly with no distractions to take away from the importance of the words.

But he hadn't. Instead he had gone on to try and get stronger and had left her without an answer.

He knew that he had had to do that, and he was happy he had. If he hadn't he wouldn't have began a more settled relationship between him and Kurama, wouldn't have met his mother and then felt the love his parents had poured into him at his birth.

But couldn't he have at least went and _said _something to her? Maybe thank her for saving him, or thank her for loving him? He could have at least promised to talk to her.

God, he was stupid.

And then that thing with Sakura had happened and she had finally confessed to him. And in that moment before he had pushed her away he hadn't been thinking about the years he had been crushing on her or how great it was that she was finally returning his feelings. No, he had been thinking how hollow her false words had sounded next to Hinata's, and how much that hurt to think about it.

When he had met his mother and she had told him that she loved him -that she and his father had always loved him- he had been filled with this... uplifting happiness. The same happiness he felt when he thought back on Hinata's words, though what had happened after the confession didn't have the same effect. And he had wondered if that feeling was what it was like to be loved.

He liked it.

During the war, obviously, he hadn't been able to do anything about it other than tell her that she was strong because he had been fighting so hard to protect everyone. But now the battles were over and he knew that Hinata was staying in a nearby camp. Not only that, but he also knew she was heading his way, unknowing of his being in her path.

Another one of his clones disappeared and gave Naruto and update, warning him that Hinata was still walking towards him, now only five minutes away.

Naruto knew that he had time to run away if he wanted to, but he also knew that if he did run he would never stop running, and if there was one thing Uzumaki Naruto never did it was run away like some kind of coward.

Closing his eyes to briefly pray for guidance from whatever or whoever could have been listening Naruto jumped down from his perch in the branches and leaned back against the tree, looking up into the night sky as he waited. He listened to the soft tread of her steps as they got closer and he knew by the slight falter in their rhythm that she had seen him. Bracing himself for the unknown he looked over at her and for the first time really _looked _at her.

He had never really seen her before, only vaguely recalling every now and then that there was a strange girl always in the background, one who never wished to be seen. The first time he had ever seen her had been at the chunin exams, and there he had found a girl who had been almost as desperate to be recognized as he had been.

He had seen her strength, though not the full extent of it, and had cheered her on when no one else would, all of them being certain of her failure like they had been of his. And though she had technically failed she had proved to everyone that she was strong and that she wouldn't meekly stay down when she fell.

When he had come back after those years away and had seen her again, he had sensed that more than her outer appearance had changed. There had been this aura of competence around her, one that spoke of a strength that she had gained alongside her maturity. Although every time she had seen him she had erupted in a fit of stutters and blushes, even fainting at times.

Thinking back, Naruto realized this should have been his first hint to her feelings. How stupid was he to have thought she was sick?

"Na-Naruto-kun?" Her soft voice brought him out of his thoughts. She was standing in front of him twiddling her fingers nervously, her face slightly downcast so that she was looking at him through her bangs, her face flushed.

He had only ever really looked at Sakura, caught up in his crush and the thought that getting her acceptance would mean everything to him. But he somehow felt that he was past all of that and now that he was he could see how... _pretty _she was. Her dark blue hair, the pale white eyes that should have been emotionless slates but weren't, her soft, sweet, caring face.

Over the few seconds Naruto had been staring at her Hinata had gotten redder and redder, embarrassed at the attention. She was about to ask him to stop in the fear of fainting in front of him _again_, when he sighed.

"You know," He said, surprising Hinata. "I've only ever been told _'I love you'_ by three people. The first two were when I was just born so I don't remember it, and then there's you." He said, looking deep into Hinata's eyes. "And then there's you."

Hinata swore she forgot how to breathe, how to think, how to do anything but look into his eyes and be lost. "W-What about me?"

He moved away from the tree and towards her and a part of her briefly wished that she could back away from the intense look in his eyes, though another smaller part of her wanted to come out and meet him, to revel in the fact that he was _finally_ looking at her.

He stopped in front of her and pulled a face, obviously thinking something over. "You... what you said... did you mean it?" Hinata blinked, surprised at his sudden question.

"O-Of course Naruto-kun!" She practically shouted and he nodded, looking somewhat relieved.

"Right. Okay."

He looked back into her eyes and he looked so serious at that moment that Hinata felt dread roll over in her stomach.

"I... The way I am right now... The _me _I am right now, does not love you the way you love me." Hinata lowered her head, tears filling her eyes at the inevitable end that would come with Naruto's next words. Of course, she had known that this would happen, that he would be unable to love her. After all, he loved Sakura.

But it had been nice thinking that maybe Naruto would come to think of her instead of Sakura in the days that had passed since she had confessed.

"But that doesn't mean I won't ever be able to love you." Her head snapped up, her tears quickly dying in the face of those words, words that took her fading spark of hope and turned it into a blazing inferno.

"W-What?"

He took a breath and sent her a smile, one more nervous than his usual confidence filled grins. "Well... I've never really been 'in love' before. I haven't ever been in a relationship, and I don't really know how any of this will work. But I do know that what you said meant a lot to me. I do know that you are brave and strong, that you are a caring and beautiful person, and one of my most precious people. And I do know that I want to try and see where this is going."

"I want to see if there is a chance for an 'us'."

Hinata had to wonder if she was dreaming. If perhaps she had been hurt more severely during the war than she had thought and that she had collapsed or fell into a coma and was now having a wondrous and beautiful hallucination.

She opened and closed her mouth a few times before merely nodding, so shocked that she knew she would be unable to form any coherent words even if she hadn't had her stuttering problem.

Naruto smiled and crossed his arms loosely over his chest, a bit of his usual self-confidence easily returning. "Right! Well, do you want to walk around a bit with me before you head back to camp?"

Wide eyed, Hinata nodded yet again, falling in behind him when he started walking further down the little trail they stood on. They went on like this for a few silent moments before Naruto stopped, Hinata immediately stopping behind him, worried that something was wrong.

"You know," He said, looking back at her over his shoulder, "It will be easier to talk to you if you walk up here with me."

Heart thudding heavily in her chest, Hinata felt as if she were having an out of body experience as she got rid of the short distance separating them, coming up beside him. The walked for a bit longer in silence before Naruto started asking questions about her, wanting to actually get to know_her_. And as she answered his questions and asked some of her own, laughing at the silly faces he made at times, she fulfilled her wish of walking beside Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

Hinata walked into her tent, high above every one she passed as she floated by on cloud nine. She was so blissfully happy that she didn't know if she walked or glided over to where she had laid out her bed roll. Ino rolled over from where she had been laying, flipping through some magazine she had somehow managed to acquire, to watch as Hinata slipped off her flak jacket, a dreamy smile on her face.

She kicked an innocently dozing Sakura who was only trying to get rid of the weary hours she had spent healing ninja after ninja with a brief nap. Sakura threw a nearby kunai at her best friend in retaliation, turning over to burrow deeper into her blankets.

"Stupid pig, leave me alone. I still have a few hours left." Ino easily caught the weapon and kicked the pink haired medic-nin again.

"Hey, billboard brow, take a look at Hinata."

Wearily the girl rolled over so she was facing the Hyuuga's general direction, though she didn't open her eyes. "I've already examined her and healed all of her serious injuries." She said, yawning. Ino rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes, and you did a real bang up job. But I meant _look _at her _face_."

Heaving out a sigh, Sakura wearily pried open one of her eyes to stare at the elated Hyuuga who was currently brushing her hair, humming some light, nameless tune with a sweet smile on her face, her eyes closed as she stayed in her own happy little world. Sakura rolled her open eye over to her blonde friend.

"I wonder what happened." Ino smiled and nodded as if agreeing with something that Sakura knew she hadn't said.

"Only one way to find out." She cleared her throat noisily. "Hey, Hinata." She called out to her. Hinata jumped to attention, hastily dropping her brush as she focused her attention on her friend.

"Y-yes Ino? Is anything wrong?" Ino smiled coyly.

"Not according to that smile of yours. I didn't know wars were such happy events." She teased.

Hinata visibly paled. "Oh! N-N-No! I-It isn't that, I-I swear!" Sakura sighed, tired of the blonde's antics and just wanting to get back to sleep.

"She's just teasing you, Hinata. But really, what's got you in such a happy mood?" The girl blushed and Sakura closed her eye again. "Naruto?" She guessed, only knowing of one person that could make the girl blush like that.

"Ah, y-yes. I met with Naruto-kun during my walk." The girl said, playing with her fingers as she began to grow another shade of pink.

"Oh, did anything happen?" Ino asked, preparing herself for some dull story about how Naruto had once again misinterpreted everything Hinata said but had still managed to do or say something to give the poor Hyuuga hope. Sakura had told her about Hinata confessing before sacrificing herself to Pain, and Ino had to wonder if Naruto had taken it as the girl confessing her love as a friend.

Poor Hinata.

"W-Well... he told me how much my confession meant to him and that he couldn't return my feelings." Ino put on her sympathetic face while Sakura tried to connect the girl's elation to her being turned down by Naruto. Maybe it was a coping mechanism.

"But then he told me t-that it didn't mean he would never be able to, and so he asked me to go out with h-him." There was a heavy beat of silence before the two Konoha nin jumped towards the girl, startling and cornering her.

"WHAT?!" They both shouted at the same time, causing the poor thing to fall back, eeping with her shock.

Tenten opened the flap to the strange sight and pulled a face. "Hey now, what's going on here?" The blonde turned to her, eyes bright with blood lust that only gossip could bring.

"Naruto asked Hinata out!"

Tenten blinked and then grinned, casually strolling over to sit down next to the girls, effectively cutting off every last escape route Hinata could have found. "Oh? Now Hinata, why don't you tell us about this?"

The three girls leaned forward, causing Hinata to back away a bit, actually a bit fearful at the moment. "W-Well... I-I was w-walking i-in the woods to get some air w-when I came across Naruto-kun. He started talking to m-me,"

"What did he say?" Ino asked, leaning into the girl's personal space a bit more.

"H-he told me that I was the first person to tell him that I l-loved him. H-he said that h-he couldn't love me now, but that he w-wanted to see if he could later. A-and then he said he wanted t-to get to know i-if there w-was an us." The girls surrounding her blinked.

"And then...?" Tenten pried. Hinata's blush grew slightly pinker.

"A-And then we walked for a little w-while and t-talked." The three surrounding nin blinked and leaned back, finally giving the poor girl room to breathe.

"Wow." Sakura said. "That's... I'm surprised Naruto even _realized _you had feelings for him, even with the confession. I mean... wow."

Ino nodded. "I know! I thought he was too caught up with your big forehead to see anything else." Sakura snorted.

"Stupid Ino-pig, at least I _had _someone caught up on me." This caused Ino to turn to her angrily.

"What are you saying?"

"That no one can get past that pig attitude of yours, stupid pig!"

"Oh really? Well, at least I don't have a giant forehead without any figure to take people's attention off of it! And what's so great about Naruto crushing on you -no offense Hinata."

"Why you...!"

Tenten easily ignored their bickering, focusing all of her attention on Hinata. "This is pretty big for you, huh?" Hinata hesitantly nodded.

"I... I don't know if he'll come to l-love me like I do f-for him, b-but this shows that he's seen _me,_" Hinata said, smiling a little bit. "And that fills me up with so m-much hope a-and happiness." Tenten smiled back, happy for the girl.

"Well," Sakura said, finished with yelling at Ino, both of them now feeling a bit lighter with all of that steam blown off. "Since I'm up, I should run over to the medic tent and help out. But you should know that I'm happy for you Hinata, and that Naruto is a really great guy. Though he is a bit of a pervert, what with having had Jiraiya as his teacher. And if he ever tries any of that perverted stuff on you, you just tell me and I'll go beat him so hard he won't know his head from his foot."

Hinata blushed and tried to stutter out that she knew Naruto would never do anything like that to her but she was already out of the tent.

"Well, if she's going I better go too. Hey, you never know, there might be a sexy little broken ninja just waiting for me to fix him." Ino said, winking to the two remaining girls as she left to follow her best friend. Tenten chuckled at the other two women's antics and patted Hinata on the shoulder.

"Hey, since I know where you guys are I'll bring my stuff here and bunk with you. Right now I'm with some she-males that keep giving me this look, and I don't want to sleep with all of my weapons out tonight." Hinata nodded and watched as she walked out of the tent. When her final friend had gone she flopped back on her bed roll, kicking off her shoes so that she could snuggle down into the blankets.

She slowly drifted out of consciousness, a small smile gracing her lips as her last thoughts were of how beautiful Naruto's eyes looked when they were filled with stars.

* * *

Naruto made his way into a nearby camp, looking for a familiar face so that he could find somewhere to bunk down.

He knew Tsunade baa-chan probably wanted to talk to him, and that he should probably check with her before going to sleep but he was tired and he had used up a lot of chakra during the battles, even more than he would have ever dreamed of using before. There was also the fact was that it had been the first time he and Kurama had teamed up so the strange moves and immense chakra had worn his body down until it hurt to simply breathe. All he needed was a little bit of rest so that he could restore some of his strength and kick-start his dragging healing abilities.

But luck was not with him as ninja after ninja came up to him to congratulate him -to _thank _him- on his role in the war. He guessed that he had ended up saving some of them during the battles, but the sheer amount of people that came up to him and asked to get him a drink was astonishing and there were still more coming since people had noticed the crowd that surrounded him. And so Naruto quickly jumped out of the suffocating circle, racing back towards the woods.

When he finally settled down for some rest it was in a tree with some twisting branches making up his bed. He closed his eyes and slowly shut his brain down, though his final thought sent a smile to his face.

He wondered if Hinata knew how pretty she was with a blush on her face and stars in her eyes.


	2. Monsters and Shadows, Shikamaru

I love Shikamaru, and he is one of my absolute favorites from Naruto (Sending some Gaara love out there too!), but I had to make my poor baby sad *sob!* But don't worry, I'll make him happy!

* * *

The room was dark, night having long ago overtaken the world and casting everything into shadows and mystery. The large king bed held one sleeping form, the other side laying untouched and barren, waiting for someone to come and claim it and to lay beside the lone figure that was sprawled out on his stomach, arms disappearing under his pillow as he snored lightly. There was a single picture frame the side table of the empty side of the bed, and on the other was a handful of messily but sweetly made knickknacks and a kunai cleverly hidden from view, though it stayed easily accessible to the sleeping man.

The door to the room slowly opened, the light from the hall blazing a clear path through the room and over the bed, highlighting the muscular and lightly scarred expanse of the man's bare back.

A small figure stepped quietly into the room, hesitating a few feet away from the bed. Sniffling, the tiny form rubbed her face and whimpered. "Daddy..." She whispered, voice strangled by her tears. Shikamaru, who had been aware of every movement since the child entered the room, shot fully awake at his daughter's pleading voice.

He shoved himself up to his elbows, his straight black hair, usually restrained at the back of his head, falling in a tumble to his muscular shoulders. His face no longer held its usual lazy expression, though his face was heavy from sleep.

His slitted eyes were aware and sharp as he tried to figure out what danger had forced his child to run to him for safety. The blankets had slid down to his waist during sleep, revealing every inch of his bare chest and back, the muscles sculpted to keep up with the demanding rigors of his job. His boxers had slipped low on his hips, hidden under the blankets, and it was all that his pajamas consisted of.

To anyone else, Shikamaru would have been a sexy, delicious piece of man candy, sleepily tumbled and oh so wonderful, but to six year old Kyoko he just looked like her father, strong, steady, dependable, and everything she needed right in that crisis filled moment.

"Kyoko, what's wrong?" It had been nearly half a year since the last time Kyoko had crawled into his bed in the middle of the night, and she had certainly never done it before while crying.

Kyoko whimpered again, a pitiful and lost sound that had Shikamaru automatically sitting up and reaching out for his girl. She stumbled quickly over to him, crawling up over the bed to sit in his lap, wrapped in the strength of his arms.

Shikamaru let her get over the worst of her crying, knowing he wouldn't be able to get any straight answers from her when she was choking over her tears. He rubbed soothing circles over her back, a habit he had picked up when she had been just a baby and had refused to sleep unless he had been sitting beside her crib, comforting her fears and worries with his touch.

Her tears burned red hot rivers down his hard chest and he wondered -not for the first time- if she ever wished that she had something softer, someone who had curves that naturally comforted. But he guessed that in their situation they couldn't really be picky.

Finally her sobs died down and Shikamaru leaned back against headboard, knowing that it would all go more smoothly if he just let her get it out herself. There were a few more minutes of sniffling before Kyoko leaned her head against her father's chest, her ear just over the steady beat of his heart, and sighed.

"Daddy... are you disappointed with me?" Shikamaru blinked at the odd question, shoving some stray strands of hair out of his face.

"No. What made you think that?" The small girl curled up against him tighter, hugging her arms closer to her as she felt her eyes filling with tears again.

"I... I heard s-some people t-talking, and t-they said how y-you must be disappointed b-because I'm not a genius l-like you." She said, the tears quickly causing her throat to close and making her stutter over her words.

Shikamaru carefully lifted her face to him and wiped her tears away, studying her for a few moments so he could try and see what these strangers apparently found fault in.

It was true that she wasn't astoundingly smart like he was -her intelligence simply settling for higher than average- but she was still a smart girl, one who showed the promise of being one of the few women in the history of the Nara clan to use the shadow techniques. She also showed the promise of being a very pretty girl when she grew up, even if she favored him greatly.

Her black eyes were wide and deep like her mother's had been though, even if the color was different, and her black hair was soft and straight. Her face -though holding a childish roundness- looked to lean towards angular, and he had to wonder if more and more of her mother would show and balance out everything of him that he saw in her as she grew.

She was perfection, and Shikamaru couldn't see where those narrow minded idiots had seen anything wrong with her.

"Kyoko, I could never be disappointed with you because of something as troublesome as that. I don't care about how smart you are." Kyoko sniffled again, though her tears were quickly becoming a mere memory.

"R-Really? But, both you _and _Grandpa are geniuses."

Shikamaru stared down at his daughter blandly. "Yes, and who are you going to believe? Some random people on the street or your genius father?"

Kyoko giggled and snuggled into her father, the time she had been up crying quickly catching up with her.

"Daddy..."

"Hmm?"

"They said it was why mom left." Shikamaru stiffened at the words, his eyes automatically moving to the gold band that weighed down his left hand.

"What?"

"They said," She yawned, eyes drifting closed as she began to fall away. "That Mom left because I wasn't smart enough for her. Can I sleep with you?" She asked, easily trusting her father's word that these people had nothing worth wile to say. Shikamaru's hand fisted in the sheet as he nodded, trying to control the anger boiling inside of him.

It took a few moments for them to get settled and just as Kyoko was about to slip away Shikamaru's low voice cut through the air, his fury easily hidden beneath a facade of calm.

"Your mother left because it was her job as a ninja, not because she ever felt _anything_ other than love for you." But how could he ever truly get his daughter to understand the feelings of a woman she just vaguely remembered? How could he ever get her to understand that sometimes ninjas left and just never came back?

How could he get her to understand something that he himself had trouble comprehending at times?

"Okay, Daddy." She whispered, curling into his side and trusting him to keep her monsters at bay. After all, this was her father, a powerful ninja who could _do_ anything, _be_ anything. A ninja that was so amazing the monsters got scared at even the _thought_ of him. With these thoughts in her head she fell asleep with a smile on her face, happy and safe.

And Shikamaru lay there for nearly an hour afterward, staring at the ring as if it and the vows it carried were a curse, releasing a poison that was slowly destroying what he loved.

Though he never once tried to fool himself into thinking that he could ever take it off.

* * *

Gasp! A child! (Actually, two)

Gasp! Missing wife!

Never fear, dearly beloved, I have it planned! Yes, this is kind of dropping you into the middle, but I swear I already have it done in my head! This is just what came out first, and I think it's a pretty good way to start. You know, suspenseful and everything (Please don't hurt me ;-;).

But it will all be fully explained later on, I swear. Though there will be more tidbits like this before that (Really, I'm sorry).


	3. Girl time

Kori scrunched up her forehead as she focused on getting the final stroke of the royal purple polish just right on her nail, silently vowing to herself that she'd get through training tomorrow without a chip in them. The girl to her left chuckled and Kori quirked an eyebrow at her, her own lips twitching automatically in response. "What?"

Rin laughed again and blew slightly on her still damp hot pink nails. "You just look so serious. It's only nail polish, you know. Nothing drastic will happen if you mess it up." The blonde looked over at her cousin blandly, matching white eyes meeting and teasing each other. The girl that sat in front of the other two girls sighed and flopped back on the small pile of pillows that had been strategically placed on the floor.

"You know, I don't see why we are wasting our time painting our nails. We're ninjas, it'll come off during training." Though the white haired girl had to admit that her now hunter green toes did look dainty and cute, just like the bottle had promised. Kori looked at her best friend exasperatedly and carefully kicked her, making sure not to mess up her nails.

"Karin, shut-up and enjoy girl time. We never get to have it anymore, what with me getting more missions and you two getting settled into your team." Karin rolled her mint green eyes at her older friend, but had to agree, though she did have a few choice words to give, now that Kori had brought it up.

"God, I hate it! All we do is stupid missions like painting fences or helping keep a store. And that cat! Madam Shijimi's cursed cat! I swear, if she wants to keep it with her she needs to put it on a leash, because if that thing claws me again, I'll kill it."

"Wait, it's still _alive_?"

"I know! I mean, it was alive when our parents were Genin!"

"I feel sorry for it. I mean, it has to deal with Shijimi, and the fact that it seems to be immortal."

"What God would hate anything so much that it would make it deal with _that_, and not be able to die?"

"Maybe it was a mass murderer in a past life, or a rapist."

"Or an overemotional old lady who sent helpless ninjas to catch her psychotic runaway cat."

The three kunoichi looked at each other and shared a single amused look that communicated everything far better than words could even dare to, a look that only good friends who understood everything about one another could share. Overwhelmingly amused, the three girls started laughing, wiping away the tears that came along with their mirth.

"Well, I guess it's going well." The girls looked up and the pale-haired girl beamed.

"Daddy! You're home!" Looking worn and quite a bit dirty, the famous copy ninja smiled down at his daughter, though the crinkling of a single eye was the only sign of it.

"How was your mission?"

"Fine." He said, easily hiding his tiredness from his eldest child. "Your mother wanted me to bring this up to you." He said as her sat a tray of drinks and snacks down in the middle of them. The girls said their thanks and watched as he walked out.

"Hey, do you think your father had to go after the cat when _he_ was a Genin?" Rin teased, and Kori giggled. Karin felt her own lips twitch, though she was quick to leap to her father's defense.

"Hey! He's not old!" At the other girls' bland looks, Karin felt her face flush. "Forty-eight isn't _that_ old." The cousins giggled and Karin sighed, grabbing one of the glasses of lemonade from the tray and quickly taking a sip. Seeing her pout, Rin grinned and crawled over to her team mate, throwing her arm around her shoulder companionably.

"Hey now! You know, I heard my mom and dad talking about something _very_ interesting earlier." A true gossip at heart, Karin's ears perked.

"Oh?" The brunette grinned and nodded, knowing that she had her hooked.

"Do you know Takara Kei?" Karin narrowed her eyes for a moment, recalling a boy a year or so older than her with a nice face and a bright smile, though he had always seemed a bit too pretty for her tastes.

"Yes."

"He knocked up Otoka Risa." Karin gasped, her hand flying up to her mouth as she remembered the small girl who had graduated from their class.

"No!"

Rin nodded, lips pursed. "Yep."

Kori leaned forward, forehead scrunched up as she remembered something. "I heard that he got her older sister, Shiori, pregnant though." Rin looked over at her and nodded slowly, causing the two girls to gasp.

"_Both_ of them?" Karin leaned back as she thought over this, her earlier annoyance long forgotten. "Isn't their dad an ex-ANBU?" She waited for them to give an affirming nod. "God... He's going to _die_." The other two girls nodded and they all reached for a cookie and a pillow, getting comfortable for the upcoming conversation.

"Yuki and Yuka broke into the Yondaime's library again."

Rin nibbled on her cookie and raised her eyebrow. "Again? How did they get past the guards this time?"

Kori roughly sighed and shook her head exasperatedly at her younger sisters' antics. "I don't know, but I think it's really starting to hurt the ANBU's egos a bit."

"They're the children of the Hokage. It's expected for them to be better than most." Kori shot her best friend an amused look.

"Yes, but they're nine, Karin. They shouldn't be able to sneak past a whole ANBU guard."

"How long did it take them to get noticed this time?" Kori shrugged and crossed her legs so that she sat Indian style. "A few hours. Yuki figured out some sealing technique and got a little too excited, and they heard her pen when she started taking down notes. Mom's pretty upset since they were banned from going there and everything, but I think Dad is more amused than anything." There were a few chuckles over this, and then Rin sighed.

"My dad is pushing for me to start using the gentle fist more in fights."

Kori snorted. "No offense, but you kind of suck at it."

Rin glared at her cousin, more than well aware of her shortcomings with her father's fighting style. "Not as bad as you, Blondie." Kori snorted again and waved the insult away, uncaring.

"I know. That's why I don't use it."

Karin looked at her team mate, trying to puzzle the situation out. "He knows you can't use it and that you fight perfectly well with your sword. Why would he be trying to change you?"

"I think he has been getting some pressure from the elder council to get me to use it a bit more. You know, endorse the wonder that is Hyuuga, and the Hyuuga do not use swords."

Kori grimaced in sympathy, remembering the one time she had ever had to deal with that stupid council and their Hyuuga politics. It had certainly made her thankful that she wasn't a Hyuuga, and that she only had to share a few strands of DNA with the clan.

"What are you going to do?"

Rin shrugged. "I'll train with him a bit, but it would take a lot of training to get me anywhere near the level needed for combat. Plus, there's the fact that I really like my sword and don't feel like fighting any other way. And I'm damn good with it." The two other girls nodded in agreement.

"What about you Karin? Anything going on with you?" Karin thought back on the past few weeks and tried to come up with something.

"Umm... nope. It's been pretty boring around here. My mom has started Jiro and me on poison training, though." Kori picked up another cookie, telling herself that she'd do an extra lap around the village to burn off the calories.

"I thought you didn't want to become a medic?"

"Oh, I don't. But mom figured that if she was starting it with Jiro she might as well do it with me and give me immunity to some of them in case I get stabbed or shot with something." Kori nodded, seeing the usefulness of it, and decided to talk to her parents about it later.

"Oh, and Ken kissed me." This had the two girls sitting up, nearly launching themselves at her.

"This is one of the things you bring up before the poisons! What happened? What was it like?" Karin wrinkled her nose.

"He came up to me when I was looking at the fruit in the supermarket and tells me that ever since we had been seated next to each other in class that he had been in love with me." She ignored the 'aww'ing that was coming from her friends and made a face. "Then he grabbed my shoulders and stuck his tongue in my mouth."

"Figuratively or literally?"

"_Literally._ The boy actually smashed his face into mine and shoved his tongue in. It was positively disgusting." The other girls shook their heads at the predicament she had been put into.

"What did you do?" Karin shrugged and leisurely picked up another cookie.

"I punched him so hard that I knocked him out and then came home to sanitize my mouth." Imagining Karin's fury and chakra enhanced punch made the girls wince in sympathy for the poor boy, but they figured it was alright since he deserved it.

Though the fact that this sad event had been her first kiss just _had_ to be pointed out.

* * *

Okay, a few things:

1) I forgot that Karin was an actual character in the series (Seriously, I forgot about her character completely. That's how much I care about the girl). My Karin has nothing to do with the actual Naruto Karin, and unless that chick actually does anything noteworthy she probably wont even exist in my story. I just like the name.

2) Yes, I know I didn't list the parents of the children (I'll get to it later, promise). I didn't do this for the whole _"ooh, you have to guess" _thing (maybe partly), but because it's more realistic. How many children mention their parents in passing and specifically give their names?

Until next time, my beloveds! Kisses!


	4. Worries, NaruHina

Hinata sat in the small examination room, waiting for the doctor to get back with the results of her tests. The yearly physical examination that all ninjas had to undergo was a tiring process of forgetful and lazy ninja fighting for spots in the waiting rooms to battle for even the smallest break in the doctors' schedules.

Hinata, however, always had the foresight to schedule her appointment a few months early, not wanting to deal with the headache of the waiting room. It seemed to be taking longer than usual, though that could be explained by the fact that Sakura wasn't the one doing her examination this time. Hinata sighed and took her new mission from the pocket of her jacket, deciding to pass the time by reading over it.

The door slid open a few minutes later and Hinata stood up, ready to leave as soon as the doctor told her that everything was okay and in order, but the look on the doctor's face had her pausing.

This wasn't going to be a cut and dry visit. Something on the tests was weird or wrong, and the doctor's face showed that there was a chance that it was bad. Hinata slowly sat back down on the examining table, watching as the stern faced doctor sat down in her chair.

"We found a... anomaly on one of the tests." Why hadn't Sakura been her doctor? Why couldn't Hinata have waited for her to come back from her mission? It would be better to hear that she was sick from a friend, from someone who wouldn't call it an "anomaly".

"W-Which test was it?"

"Your pregnancy test." Hinata blinked at the doctor, not really sure if she had heard right. The doctor, seeing the girl's obvious confusion, decided to clarify.

"You're pregnant."

"What?" There was no way she could have heard right. _No way_. She was on the pill, had always been on it and had never missed a day.

"Pregnant."

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't have heard you right." The doctor sighed, thinking about all the other patients that were lined up in the waiting room, mere moments away from killing each other violently.

"Yes, you did. You are pregnant and have been for the past month."

"With a _baby_?"

"It's certainly not a loaf of bread." The doctor muttered sarcastically.

Not even hearing the woman, Hinata sat there, dazed and confused, not really sure how it had happened. Hinata had always been irregular, so she hadn't noticed being a little late, but wouldn't _something_ have told her that she was pregnant? Some little change or telling sign?

"This means, of course, that you will be taken off of active duty to protect both you and the child. You may notice your chakra going through some changes, but it shouldn't worry you. It's just your body gathering your chakra to protect the child. I'll schedule you an appointment with an obstetrician later on in the month."

Numbly, Hinata stood up and started gathering her things. The doctor started when the door suddenly slid open and she watched, shocked, as her patient walked out of the room. "Uzumaki-sama!" She called out, trying to stop the girl, but could only shake her head when the girl didn't hear her and continued on. She took the girl's file over to the front desk to make the appointment for her and wiped her hands of the entire troublesome thing.

It was not so easy for Hinata, however. As she automatically started on the walk to her apartment her head was filled with a thousand different thoughts, all of them spinning around and knocking into one another in a turbulent tangle.

She and Naruto had only been married for a few months and he had been Hokage for less than that. Were they even ready for a baby? Of course not. They had only just turned twenty; they had so much more to do and so little time for a child.

She'd have to give up being a ninja for a few years to raise the child and Naruto was just now getting use to his new role as the leader of the village. The baby was going to mess everything up, tilt the world that had just recently turned perfect.

And Hinata just didn't know if she had it in her to be a good mother.

Someone placed a heavy hand on Hinata's shoulder and she came back down to earth with a jarring thud. Turning she looked at Kiba with wide eyes, not really sure what to do.

"Hey, Hinata, you okay?"

Suddenly Hinata realized that it was growing increasingly darker with every moment, a sure sign that she had been wandering around lost in thought for the past few hours.

"Ah, y-yes. I'm fine." She said twisting her hands together. She watched Kiba's nose twitch as he breathed in her scent, obviously checking whether or not she was telling the truth. And when his eyebrows came together as he tried to puzzle out what exactly was wrong with what he had smelled Hinata realized that he would be able to smell the baby if he focused hard enough.

She hadn't even told Naruto yet, how could she let Kiba know? "Ah! Kiba, I-I need to go. Bye!" And she launched herself into the air so that she could run on the roof tops, headed towards the apartment she and Naruto shared. When she tried the door and found it unlocked, she took a breath, preparing herself.

But when she walked in the living room, kitchen and bedroom were empty so the sound of running water hitting tile brought her towards the bathroom, and she slowly pushed the door open. "N-Naruto-kun?"

"Hinata? Did your appointment take a bit longer than usual?" Taking a breath and trying to ignore the rippled and shadowed form of Naruto that was visible through the shower's glass door Hinata sat down on the toilet and started nervously playing with her fingers, unsure of how she wanted to tell him. At least this way she wouldn't have to look at his face.

"Um, y-you could say that." Hinata fell silent, wondering how on earth this could be so hard. Six syllables, that was all it was. Six syllables that would change their lives forever.

"Hey, Hina-chan, you want to join me?" Her face flushed as she briefly thought about it, desperately wanting to join him and just ignore the whole situation. But ignoring these useless thoughts Hinata closed her eyes and took a breath.

"Um, actually Naruto-kun, I just need to t-talk to you."

"Then talk." Hinata took a breath and closed her eyes.

"The doctor t-told me I w-was unfit for d-duty."

"Why? Are you sick?" He sounded so sweetly concerned that Hinata cursed herself for dragging it out, telling herself to get on with it.

"Y-you could say t-that."

"Naruto, I-I'm pregnant." Hinata winced at the sound of the bar of the soap that had been in Naruto's hand hitting the tile of the shower floor. He was quiet, so blasted quiet. That couldn't be good, could it? "N-Naruto?"

The shower door was thrown open, revealing a naked and wet Naruto staring at her, wide eyed with shock. "Pregnant?" He asked hoarsely, his voice just barely above a whisper.

"Y-Yes, I'm sorr-" But her apology was cut off by Naruto scooping her up into his arms, whooping with unrestrained joy.

"That's great!" He pronounced loudly, grinning widely as he spun Hinata around in a circle, amazingly keeping his balance on the slick tile. Hinata grabbed onto his shoulders for balance and stared down at him, shocked.

"G-great?"

"Yeah! I mean, we're going to have a family!"

"You're not worried?" Naruto looked up at her, confused.

"About what?"

Hinata thought over all of her earlier thoughts about everything that could go wrong. But when she looked down at Naruto, with some of his blonde hair plastered to his head and other bits spiking up stubbornly, his bright blue eyes so bright and happy and his familiar grin splitting his face, Hinata decided she would worry enough for the both of them.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." She whispered before meeting his lips with hers in a sweet kiss. They broke away a few moments later, Naruto once more grinning up at Hinata.

"I'm going to be a dad!" And with that, Hinata felt her heart melt.

"Y-You're going to make a _great_ dad." They met in another kiss, one just as sweet as the last, and Hinata promised herself that she'd try and forget about all of her worries and just _be_ with Naruto.

Though this all flew away when she felt Naruto moving. She broke the kiss and leaned back, realizing he was headed towards the shower. "N-Naruto? What are you doing?"

"I want you to shower with me. And after all, pregnant women can't strain themselves." Hinata blinked at Naruto's sly grin for a moment before the shock of the stream of water hitting her brought her out of her stupor.

"Naruto! I-I'm still in my clothes!" She shouted, struggling against the iron restraints of his arms.

"Oh, you are, aren't you?" He teased, his grin growing as a familiar light entered his eyes and made Hinata's stomach knot. "Well, we'll just have to fix that." He said cheerfully, starting to unzip her jacket.

"No! Stop! N-Naruto!" Hinata called out, giggling as she tried to halfheartedly fight him off. They wrestled for a few more minutes before Hinata gave in, smiling as their lips met again in a happy and loving kiss, Naruto's hands gently caressing her stomach.

And in that moment, worry was the farthest thing from her mind.

* * *

Okay, I really hope you don't dislike this Hinata, because I just tried to make it more realistic. They're twenty, just recently married, barely able to keep up with things as is, and suddenly a baby is thrown into the mix. She's just worrying, and rightly so. This baby screws up _a lot_ of things -like Hinata's ninjaness- but life turns out pretty great for every one, and Hinata stops worrying and gets happy.

Oh, and I just think Naruto would make a pretty great dad, as long as Hinata was there to keep him in line, that is.


	5. Happiness, NaruHina

Growing up in the Hyuuga household her life had always been quiet and structured. There had been no disruptive influences or actions, no loud fights or happy laughter. There had only been the firm and restricting name of Hyuuga and the cold, ever present reminder of how they were supposed to act that she had seen whenever she had looked into a mirror.

But Hinata couldn't really complain. It was true she had been ignored greatly by her father as a child and that love had never been forthcoming, but her childhood had never been as bad as Naruto's. She had had a family, had had a home. She had been treated with respect and had been provided for. She had never, even at her worst moments in that house, had to worry about her life or if those who took care of her would turn their backs if she was in need. So really, she had no room to complain about her life as a child.

But as she stood at the stove in a worn lavender robe, flipping pancakes and turning sausages, frying up bacon and scrambling eggs, she knew that the truth of her child hood was that it had been so terribly cold and miserable.

Behind her her children sat at the large kitchen table, passing the time before breakfast was served as they did every morning, happily and noisily.

Kori, her eldest, sat crookedly in her chair from where she had flopped down, her head laying down on the table as she stared dead eyed at some distant thing, her beautiful blonde hair -the same color as her father's- laying around her in tangles and the heavy blanket of sleep still covering her face and clouding her clear white eyes.

Even though she was a skilled kunoichi, one that easily defeated opponents that were believed to be far greater than her in skill, Uzumaki Kori was not -and would never be- a morning person. It would take her half an hour before she was able to hold a conversation consisting of words with more than two syllables and a full hour before she was able to look anything near presentable or do anything productive without risk of bodily injury to others.

Her twins were sitting together, heads bent over some papers and books as they tried to puzzle out something Hinata knew she had very little -if any- hope of understanding. They were beautiful girls, their dark blue hair like her's, their Hyuuga eyes holding a tint of their father's blue. They were only nine but were already immensely skilled and absurdly intelligent. Yuki showed to have more of Hinata's gentle nature compared to Yuka's more devious and loud Naruto like nature, though they were both just as excitable as their father when it came to things they were passionate about.

And their passion was knowledge.

Hinata had no idea where that had come from. Though she had always been knowledgeable she had never been truly smart, and God knew Naruto wasn't -though she loved him. Naruto had said it could have been from his father and Hinata had to say that it made some sense, especially when paired with the fact the main points of interest for the girls were ninjutsus and seals.

These talents of her youngest daughters tried her nerves more often than not, what with them frequently sneaking past the teams of ANBU in the middle of the night to creep into the Yondaime's secret library to study his papers. Something they were expressly forbidden from doing, though they still ended up leaving practically every night.

And then there was Leo, her eldest son, who was sitting cross legged on the floor, his unruly hair spiking up in odd directions, making sure his kunai were properly balanced and sharpened. He had the same foxy grin as his father and eyes that were the same vivid blue, eyes that held mischief, arrogance and happiness at any given time. His hair was the same incredible red of Naruto's mother, though it tangled around his face and down to his shoulders in an uncontrollable mane, spiking up and defying the laws of gravity like his father's.

Though he had the looks of a mischievous mini-Naruto he was more focused on becoming a great ninja than playing pranks, often training or playing ninja with his friends, impressing them with the real ninja weapons his father gave him so easily. He was the most skilled boy his age and actually surpassed the twins in the more physical aspects, though he wasn't as smart as they were.

And finally her baby, little Mino, her little mini her. He was only two but everyone who saw him immediately said that he was a dead ringer for his mother, and Hinata had to agree. His eyes were pure Hyuuga without the slightest bit of Naruto in them, his hair the same softly falling blue. He was just as quiet as Hinata, never really crying and always patiently waiting, always sleeping through the night and he had been the least fussy of any of her children.

Just like every morning Mino sat quietly in his raised chair, hands fisted atop the table as he watched his siblings with calm eyes, waiting for his mother to bring him his food, never trying to move from his seat to get down to join his brother or go over to bother his sisters. It was actually pretty disconcerting how quiet he was, especially when surrounded by his far more rambunctious siblings.

Hinata smiled over at all of them and turned the heat off on the stove. "Girls, put the papers away so that you don't get food on them. Leo-kun, put the kunai away and sit at the table, please." They moved quickly to do as she said, waiting for her to set the platters of food down before attacking them with the same gusto and appetite that their father had.

The shouts of Leo and Yuka getting into yet another argument were paired with Yuki's quieter pleas for them to calm down so that they could eat and then the sudden shout of laughter as one of them did something the other found to be embarrassing. Kori lay dead as ever at the end of the table -though she had started to stir at the smell of food- and Mino quietly ate his cut up pieces of pancake beside her.

And when another presence entered the kitchen, Hinata couldn't have imagined a happier morning. Turning Hinata smiled at her husband of fifteen years, feeling the familiar flutter of warmth when he smiled back.

"I thought you had already left for the office." Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well, you see-"

"DADDY!" Yuka shrieked, stopping the argument she was having with her brother in favor of leaping out of her seat and dashing to her father, throwing her arms around his waist. Naruto grinned down at his exuberant child, ruffling her hair affectionately.

"Hey Baby. Yeah, I went in and was doing some paperwork -Leo, stop making faces at your sister- and then I got hungry. I thought about sending out for some Ichiraku -Yuki, stop hiding those papers under the table, you're not fooling anyone- but then I looked at the clock and figured you'd be making breakfast, so here I am! Oh, and -Yuki! Where did you get those papers? Are those from the Yondaime's library? You know you're not allowed to go there, let alone steal from it. Haven't your mother and I told you-"

Hinata smiled softly as Naruto began lecturing his children while simultaneously piling his plate high with food. The noise was incredible, the table was messy and the laughter was contagious. Most people would walk into the kitchen at that moment to see chaos of the worst kind, and they would probably pity Hinata -sweet, quiet, gentle Hinata- for having to deal with such a disastrous family every day. But as Hinata sat in the middle of it all, comparing it to her old quiet life, she knew there was no comparison.

She wouldn't trade this -the sound of her children's lively shouts and laughter, the sight of Naruto in his Hokage robes scolding his children in between bites of food, the feelings of warmth, love and pure happiness that seemed to just radiate from every corner of the room- for anything in the world.

* * *

After the last one, I felt like i had to show you that they do end up with a happy little family and that Hinata couldn't be happier.

I love the kids I made up for these guys, and I already know almost every bit of their life stories (don't worry, I know you're not here for the OC kids, so I won't bore you with too much of them).

Oh, and in this story the Yondaime (Naruto's father, the 4th Hokage, if you're not keeping up with the program) had a secret library where he kept scrolls about seals and ninjitsu, and all of his notes. It's pretty big, and I'll elaborate on it later.

Love and kisses!


	6. Family Moments, NaruHina

Naruto rubbed his face wearily as he finished a stack of paperwork, moving it aside only to find yet another stack beneath it. He glared at it for a moment, wondering if they were somehow spawning when he wasn't looking. And though he glared at his paper work, grumbling about it under his breath, he knew that in a few minutes he'd be buried in it again, because he loved his job.

Many people had thought that after a few months of being buried in paper work without any missions the appeal of being Hokage would fade. And while he missed the missions and detested the paperwork, he knew that he wouldn't trade being the Hokage for anything.

It was his life's dream, what he had worked for, what he had fought tirelessly and endlessly for. It wasn't the same as protecting his friends from enemy nin on the front lines, instead it was protecting an entire village from politics, and he had found that they were a far more treacherous foe.

However, more often than not Naruto found himself going against those politics, forcing his way to a better solution, one that worked towards the world of peace his teacher and father had worked for. And though he had found it pissed off some people -mostly the stiff necked elders- it had always worked out with no lives lost.

With a sigh he leaned his chair back, knowing that he needed to get the paper work done but also knowing that he _really_ didn't want to at that moment. And when he heard a familiar little giggle he knew he couldn't get to it now that a perfect little distraction had appeared.

He pretended to be immersed in the forms on his desk as the giggles got closer and louder, and he had to stop his lips from twitching in response. Suddenly a small blonde ball of energy burst up from beside his desk, leaping towards him with a tiny fist extended, screaming out at the top of her lungs, "Rasengan!"

Naruto caught her easily, flipping her upside down so that her blonde hair brushed the floor and began blowing raspberries on her belly. Giggling and shrieking, the little girl reached up to push at Naruto's face, the blood rushing comically to her face. "Daddy! Stop!" She squealed, wriggling and twisting as she tried to get away, trusting that her father wouldn't drop her. Naruto pulled back and looked down at his daughter, grinning at her sweet and furiously red face.

"Kori-chan, you know you can't give up on an enemy when they're about to break!" He said, seemingly shocked at his daughter. He quickly went back to torturing the four year old, smiling at her glee filled shrieks of protest, though he was forced to stop when a heavy handed knock landed on his door.

Still holding his child upside down, he called out for whoever it was to enter, though he felt like pulling a face when he realized that it was his assistant.

The woman was tall and frighteningly thin, sharp eyes and talons easily scaring off anyone who dared to come to his office for anything other than business. Her dull brown hair was pulled back in a tight librarian's bun, sharp, no-nonsense glasses perched at the end of a sharp nose.

She looked over the loving family moment with disdain, pursing her lips at the child who dared to disrupt the Hokage's work. "Hokage-sama, I do believe that the child should be with her mother. Perhaps we should send her back, in case Hinata-hime is worried about her." _And so that you can get back to work,_ was the silent message she practically screamed.

Naruto ignored the faces his daughter was secretly making every time the woman spoke and instead calmly asked the woman to send a message to his wife. After the door closed Naruto let go of his daughter, letting her crawl up into his lap and get settled in. Pouting, the small girl crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at her father.

"I don't like her." She said gravely, and Naruto grinned down at her.

"I don't like her either, but she's the best assistant I've had so far." All the others had either been so young that they had come onto him excessively, ignoring the fact that he was happily married and instead focusing on the fact that he was a young and attractive Hokage with power and stature; or they had been so old that they had only judged him on the tailed beast inside of him, often trying to sabotage him.

So he was thankful to his current assistant, though he had to wish she wouldn't try to scare away his child and friends.

"Now that she's mentioned it, why are you here without your mother, Kori?" The girl smiled up at him bashfully, white eyes not-quite meeting his as she grabbed his Hokage hat from the back of his chair and pulled it on her head, trying to hide.

"I missed you Daddy." Naruto looked to his daughter, his gaze stern and his tone cautioning as he grabbed her and sat her on his desk so that she'd face him. "Kori..."

Hinata came into the room, her eyes snapping over to the shrouded form of her daughter. "Uzumaki Kori," She said quietly, using the dangerous tone that people so rarely heard. Naruto watched as his daughter winced, her bright eyes trying to catch his to beg him for help. When she realized he was simply ignoring her she turned slowly, timidly looking over at her mother.

"Yes Mama?"

"Did I or did I not tell you to stay with me?" Kori bit her lip, holding the Hokage hat back so that she could see her mother and watch for any attack.

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes, you did."

"And did I or did I not expressly forbid you from bothering your father when he is in the office?"

"You did."

"They why," Hinata asked, her voice quieter that before, evidence of just how angry she was. "Did I find that you had left me in the middle of the market to come here, where your father was obviously working?" Kori's bottom lip trembled, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I-I don't know... I'm sorry."

Hinata crossed her arms and looked sternly and unforgivingly down at her daughter. "Yes, I'm sure you are. Now, go wait in the waiting room while I talk to your father."

Hiccuping, Kori took the hat off of her head and trudged to the door and out, wiping away her tears as she went.

As soon as the door closed behind her Hinata sagged, rubbing her face wearily. "Hey now, come over here." Naruto said, holding out his arms for Hinata to crawl into his lap much like Kori had. She rested her head on his shoulder, clutching the front of the Hokage robes loosely.

"I was so afraid when I looked up and couldn't see her." She whispered, closing her eyes tightly against the terrifying thoughts and visions that threatened to rise up again. "The ANBU hadn't seen anything and when we looked we couldn't find her. She just slipped away so easily, and I thought-" She bit her lip, not even daring to say the words.

Naruto wrapped his arms tightly around his wife, resting his head atop hers as he tried to keep away all of her demons. "It's alright. She's alright." Hinata shook her head.

"No, it's not alright. She keeps doing things like this and she doesn't realize the consequences. She doesn't realize that if she leaves me and I can't protect her..." Hinata shook her head again, fighting against the tears that so desperately wanted to fall free.

Naruto didn't want to think about what could happen, but he knew he had to. Not only was Kori a cute child who was often too kind and trusting but she was also the Hokage's child. There were so many people who wanted to get a hold of her, to gain power over him and in effect his village. There was so much that could go wrong if Kori even left their sight for a moment.

But they couldn't tell this to her, couldn't have her distrusting and running away from every person who looked at her sideways and every shadow that followed.

Slowly Naruto's hand drifted down to Hinata's stomach and rested there, her hand coming to rest atop of his and above the other little life they had created.

With so many fears about Kori was it right for them to have another child? Was it safe? Naruto -the Hokage, the most powerful man in the village- felt so powerless, so weak, so unable to protect his family.

But he shook that feeling off, determined to do as he had promised as a boy and keep everyone safe.

"Hey, it _will_ be alright." He said, lifting her face so that she was looking at him. "I promise, okay?" Slowly she smiled, trusting those words as more of a truth than anything else in the world.

"Okay." She murmured, leaning her forehead against his and closing her eyes.

They sat that way for just a few more moments before Hinata sighed, leaning back and opening her eyes so that they met with Naruto's. "I was a little hard on her, wasn't I?" Naruto brushed a few pieces of her hair back behind her ear.

"Maybe a little, but she deserved it. She knew it was wrong and yet she still did it." He paused for a moment, and his lips twitched. "I think the really cruel thing is that you've left her alone with my assistant for so long." Hinata blinked and jumped up, realizing that that was exactly what she had done.

She hurried to the door but stopped before opening it, turning to look back at Naruto. "Will you be home for supper tonight?"

Naruto thought about all of his paper work and the hour he had just lost. He thought about how he'd have to fly through it at top speed without a break to make it on time, and then he thought about sitting down for a hot homemade meal with his family and then spending time with them after.

It was no contest. He'd gladly use a few clones and suffer through a headache if it meant he got to put his baby girl to bed and spend some time alone with his wife afterward.

"Of course." She smiled and went out into the hall, leaving Naruto and three of his clones to their work.

* * *

Some Naruto Daddy time to show that Hinata isn't the only one that worries.

Note- Hinata started losing the stutter when she and Naruto started getting more serious. Her confidence grew, so she eventually lost her stutter (though when she's supremely embarrassed, upset or nervous it comes back).

Why did she have her stutter in "Worries", you ask? Because she had just found out she was pregnant and was supremely nervous.


	7. A Mother's Role

Another little Shikamaru tidbit, but this time from Kyoko's view.

I was thinking about how difficult it would be to grow up without a mother, especially when going through the more difficult and embarrassing parts of being a girl. I know a lot of single father's go through this and are probably just fine, but I can't say Shikamaru would have been.

So, here you go!

* * *

Growing up, Kyoko had always accepted that she wouldn't have a mother to do all of the cutesy mother-daughter things she saw everyone else doing, and it had never really bothered her. She had her father, and if that was all she had it was fine with her. She never looked around and wished for her mother, never saw the girls with their moms and felt even one smidgen of jealousy.

Or if she did, she made sure to never show it in front of her father.

But right now, as she stood in the bathroom staring down at her blood stained underwear, she really wanted _anyone_ but her dad.

Taking a breath she remembered what Sakura had told her when she had sat her down for "A talk" at her last doctor visit, brushing past all of the medical mumbo-jumbo to the core of what that whole conversation had been about.

She quickly slipped out of the bathroom and grabbed a clean pair of underwear and the tiny box of tampons Sakura had given her. The instructions were simple, the process easy, though the after was a bit more difficult.

The math was basic and final: she had four more tampons that would last around six hours each, and up to twelve days of bleeding. She'd obviously have to get more and the best and most efficient way would be to go and ask her father to get her some.

But it was just so _embarrassing_.

But... maybe she could use some of her allowance and buy them -and some pain relievers- and give her some time to figure out how to tell her father.

And so she found herself staring at the feminine products in the pharmacy, hiding in the hood of her hoodie as she tried desperately to disappear from the face of the earth.

She _swore_ that the lady in the next aisle was eying her over the boxes of vitamins and the man over next to the little figurines was obviously watching her with disgust in his eyes.

God, she wanted to _die_.

"Kyoko?" No. No no no no no. Someone she knew was _not _here.

"... Maria-san?" Kyoko turned slowly to face the tenant of the house that was the other half of the duplex her family lived in, Maria. Her light brown hair waved down to her shoulders, her pleasant and freckled face forming an expression of concern, her brown eyes focused on the girl.

"Kyoko, what's wrong? Where's your father?" And then her eyes flickered over to what Kyoko was standing in front of and filled with understanding. She went over to Kyoko's side, slipping her arm around her shoulders and leaning down a bit so she could murmur in her ear. "Haven't you got anyone to get these with you?"

She thought about her Aunt Ino and about how whenever she went shopping with her the woman's voice filled the entire store, her loud laugh bringing everyone's attention where it wasn't wanted, usually when they were buying underwear or things like that. Did she want her here, dealing with this?

She shook her head no.

Maria pursed her lips and looked down at the girl. She was ten, all awkward angles and bones, tall for her age and rail thin. Her black hair was pulled back in two low pig-tails, spiking much in the same way her father's did, her face owning some of the same angles as his though her wide black eyes softened them somewhat. Said eyes were lowered to the ground, ashamed and embarrassed, her bony shoulders hunched over inside of her hoodie.

She stepped forward and shifted her basket to her other hand, soft eyes remaining on the girl. "Which do you prefer?"

Kyoko blinked at her before blushing, nervously eying the offending boxes. "Ah... Most of the kunoichi use the tampons." Maria nodded.

"Makes sense, all the jumping around and everything. Alright then, you'll need some liners too. Your cramps are probably _horrid_ since this is your first time, so we'll get you some medicine."

"Umm..."

"Do you have any friends that have gone through this?" Kyoko shook her head. "I'm... the first." Maria nodded again, feeling sympathy for the girl but not showing it.

"Right. And did anyone explain this to you?" Kyoko nodded, glad she at least had this one thing right. "Yeah. One of my dad's friends is a doctor, so she explained it to me." Maria shook her head as she tossed the items into her basket.

"Oh, Honey, no. That doctor probably covered the basic stuff but I bet you didn't ask any questions, did you?"

Kyoko didn't even have time to shake her head before Maria gently steered her over towards the pill bottles, already knowing the answer. "You see, you have questions -oh, I know you do- so you need to ask them. But it'll have to be when you're not faced with a bunch of medical gibberish."

Kyoko smiled and reached for her coin purse as they got to the checkout, though Maria waved her away. "Save your money for other things. Don't worry," She said, holding up her hand against the approaching protests, "I'll get it from your father. You _do_ have to tell him eventually."

Kyoko stepped out of the pharmacy and waited for the woman to simply hand over her things, but instead Maria placed her hand on her back and steered her down the street and into a little ice cream shop.

Maria waited until Karin settled in with her raspberry cone before folding her hands on the table and leaning forward. "I know I'm probably overstepping a lot of boundaries, but with you only having your dad, that must be pretty uncomfortable... so we're going to have a little talk."

Kyoko blinked at her. "What?" Maria nodded and sipped her milkshake.

"A talk. _The_ talk. And you, Missy, are going to ask questions. That way there won't be any surprises with you stuck somewhere where you can't talk about it with anyone." Kyoko blinked again and stared at the small stream of melting ice cream that was headed for her hand with an intensity born of desperation.

"Umm..."

"Do you wear a bra? I can't really tell with the layers you have on right now."

"No! I don't have anything to put _in _a bra." She said, crossing her thin arms over her flat chest defensively as her face flushed. She _definitely_ wasn't use to talking like this with someone. Did people even really talk about stuff like this so openly? In an ice cream shop, no less.

Maria shook her head. "You might not have a chest now or in the near future, but you will in a year or so and that transition is a real pain to deal with so you should start wearing one regardless of what you have now just to get used to it."

Kyoko nodded, seeing that that made sense, hastily licking her dripping cone as she wondered what else no one had bothered to tell her.

And so the next hour and a half went, heading into any topic that might have been embarrassing, confusing, unknown or unfamiliar. Maria managed to plow right through any embarrassment Kyoko felt and explained everything in this... way. It wasn't like her father, who usually stuck to the straight facts or tried to brush some of it off as troublesome, and neither was it like her aunt Ino who liked to jump around from subject to subject and add irrelevant things in.

When Maria explained it in her straightforward and gentle way, she just got it.

And as they laughed and talked about silly and serious girl things, eating their ice cream together, Kyoko had to wonder if this was what a mom felt like.

And she finally got what all of the fuss was about.

* * *

Maria was originally meant just for this one story. JUST THIS STORY.

But now she is so much more than the woman who had "the talk" with Kyoko over ice cream, so you'll be seeing more of her later.


	8. Feelings, NejiTen

I realized that I've only done NaruHina and some Shikamaru bits, so I'm venturing into the territory of the other couples.

I've never written for NejiTen, and have never thought about it. But I was typing this out just to straighten out my thoughts and ideas, and it just clicked. So, be prepared for a little wave of NejiTen (three to four in a row, maybe)

* * *

Tenten had always had feelings for Neji, going back to when they were first placed on a team together, though back then it had only been admiration and respect, awed by the amazing genius of the Hyuuga and trusting his abilities completely since she was sure of his total victory.

That was, however, until Naruto came and put Neji in his place, showing him that he was throwing a tantrum like a child when he should truly be fighting like a man. Then Tenten had felt disbelief, pity, and worry, unsure of how her teammate would take to being beat by the one person with whom his victory had been assured.

But after that Neji had become a better person, a teammate who was not only dependable as a fighter but dependable as an individual and as a whole. He became a Neji who she had never seen before, a Neji who had begun searching for peace with his family and peace with who he was.

He had become a happier and looser person, though he still found a way to retain some of his stiff and prickly self, most likely because he didn't know how to interact with people without his mightier-than-thou attitude. But the most surprising change was that he began to smile -though such appearances were rare.

When she had seen his smile for the first time, Tenten had felt her heartbeat begin to quicken and swore to herself that she would quickly train off whatever it was that caused her to feel as if Hyuuga Neji's smile was beautiful, and she had sworn that admiration was as far as she'd ever let her feelings for the boy go.

Team Gai had quickly become better and stronger, each of them striving towards their goals, quickly racing towards the ends that only they could reach. Each of them were quick to pass at the next chunin exam and they promised to continue to train together even if missions pulled them apart.

When one day during training she had turned to see Neji going through the hypnotic dance like movements of his style she had stood there and watched him as if spellbound, one truth blazing a scorching path through her mind: She found Neji sexy.

She quickly went back to throwing miscellaneous weaponry at her target, though for the first time in years she had missed and in that moment she felt nothing for Hyuuga Neji other than disdain.

It was during a mission after the war, one of the missions where team Gai was all together, when they first kissed. She didn't know if she had moved or if he did, if she was the one who wanted it or if it had been him, but the next thing she knew they were kissing and all those emotions she had been suppressing came out in a giant wave.

This was the first time Tenten admitted that Neji was far more than a friend she simply admired for his fighting skills.

They had tip-toed around their relationship for weeks, not really knowing what to do or say around the other, and it was then that Tenten had felt exasperation towards Neji, which she had taken out on him in every way she possibly could before they finally set their relationship to rights.

Her feelings had continued to grow and grow during the years they were together, growing so big and uncontrollable that she had feared what would happen if Neji -the perfect, restrained, controlled Hyuuga that he was- found out. She feared that she would become controlling, trying to manipulate him like his family had, which would only end with him coming to hate her.

But the one that ended up breaking had been him.

She had never thought of him as the jealous type, the type to worry or fear as she had been. She hadn't thought of him being any type really, and she quickly learned the errors of such thoughts.

He was surprisingly jealous, a worrisome and petulant child when it came to their relationship -understandable when you took into consideration the way his family had been using him since a child and the suspicion that had grown because of it. Tenten had found his attitude cute, so unlike his usual stoic self that she had the sudden urge to hide away with him for a few hours and keep this new Neji all to herself.

Though she didn't mention this until after she was done trying to kill him for _daring_ to think he could order her around.

People had never really questioned their relationship, thinking that they were a nice couple that would grow apart when Neji had to fulfill his duty as the genius of the Hyuuga clan, which obviously meant marrying a skilled Hyuuga and producing more little perfect Hyuuga clones. So to say that people had been shocked to find that they were suddenly married wouldn't have been stretching the truth.

Though to say that the clan had been merely upset would be; it had been more like they were overwhelmingly outraged.

The clan had gone up against them, screeching indignantly about the questionable nature of their union. They had demanded, they had cajoled, they had bartered, and ultimately they had threatened.

Tenten had nearly bowed out, nearly giving up at the danger threatening her new family, and she wouldn't have blamed him for doing the same.

But he had sat there, regal and powerful, and dared them to try and go through with such a threat.

And she had felt pride in the man she would from then on call her husband for the rest of her life.

But the most overwhelming emotion she had ever felt towards Hyuuga Neji was when, after thirteen hours of labor and four different attempts on his life by a certain weapon master, he had held their daughter in his arms for the first time.

He had held her as if she were the most delicate china, his arms crooked awkwardly as he tried to figure out how to hold her properly, his hands absurdly gentle as he parted the soft pink blanket to count her fingers and toes. His brilliant white eyes had looked upon her little red face with so much wonder, as if he couldn't quite believe she was really there, his lips slowly and softly forming her name as he whispered to her with such untainted adoration that tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

In that moment and in all of the moments before, after and until the day she died, she loved Neji like she knew she would love no other.

* * *

I read the translated manga (not the English version. America, or who ever prints it off, believes that everything must be changed and censored, so I don't bother with it), and I always read the names with the last names first, and I was worried that it was confusing some people. So I'm just wondering if you want it to be last name last or to just keep it the way I have been.

Kisses, hugs, and lots of love!


	9. First steps, NejiTen

After years of racing from place to place on missions, trying to keep up with the torturous pace that their teacher demanded of them, team Gai had become known as the fastest team in Konoha, able to overcome a distance in two days that would have taken most three. So the team was often put together for matters that required stealth and speed, carrying documents or objects back and forth.

Tenten thought of these missions as a vacation of a sort. They were rarely attacked, she got to go to interesting new towns and cities, she got to sight see (though it was a bit blurred), and was even paid to spend time with her favorite people.

Though right now her hand was twitching towards her scroll so that she could murder two of them.

They hadn't stopped their break-neck pace for nearly seven hours without pause, racing through the trees to get to their destination in half the time, the limit being decided by her teammate Lee.

Stupid, _stupid_ Lee.

And just as she was unsnapping the straps to one of her scrolls Gai suddenly stopped, dropping down to the ground with a broad smile. "We will stop here to regain some of our youthfulness and eat." He declared, looking around the little clearing grandly.

Lee immediately started shouting about how great that plan was while Neji silently moved past them all and began setting up his bed roll. Tenten sighed and tossed her bag against a nearby tree, already knowing which task she would be given, she being the only one who really knew how to do anything with food.

"What does everyone want to eat?" Gai turned to her with his signature bleached grin, giving her a thumbs up. "Whatever your heart desires, young Tenten! I will eat anything you cook for us since it will be filled with your feelings of love towards your precious team!" Tenten waved them away, not even bothering to try and follow his words.

"Yeah, sure, just go get cleaned up."

Which was how Tenten ended up alone with Neji.

The nervous energy between them jumped and buzzed, causing Tenten's pulse to beat erratically and making her face flush from more than just the heat of the fire. Deciding it would be easier to cut through this increasingly familiar feeling rather than tiptoe around it, Tenten flopped down beside Neji and tipped her head back on a tired sigh.

"God, I think I must be crazy to accept missions with those two." Neji, her solid shelter in the storm that was Lee and Gai, allowed his lips to twitch slightly; and though it was slight, it was just enough for Tenten to feel the light of accomplishment.

"Nothing spicy, as per usual."

"Thank you."

"How's Hinata doing?" He turned to her, his eyebrow rising slightly.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because you're one of the people who care about her the most and because I've been too busy to check up with her myself. How's it going between her and Naruto?" Tenten watched a muscle in his cheek twitch at the mention of the relationship his cousin was now in.

"She is fine, and so is the relationship between the two of them." Tenten playfully bumped shoulders with Neji, not really noticing how close they were gradually becoming.

"Come on, you have to give her up sometime. Let your little bird fly from the nest."

Neji glared at her for a moment, but there was no force behind it. "Naruto is a good man, and I trust him to be good to Hinata-sama."

"But..."

"But he could have waited until after the war to ask for her, and he should have approached her family for permission."

Tenten snorted at his ancient ideals and rolled her eyes. "It was sweet how it happened, and if he had asked her father he would have killed them both for even thinking about the relationship."

"He could have asked me." Tenten laughed at this, shaking her head at him.

"No, because _you_ would have killed him."

"I would not. " He declared indignantly, and Tenten turned to him, smiling.

"Oh, yes you w-" She stopped, cut off by the sudden and soft brushing of Neji's lips against hers. They both froze; staring wide eyed at each other before jerking apart, hands quickly going to their mouths as if to check that such an impossible thing had actually happened.

Then they were looking at each other again and everything in that moment seemed to click, both of them leaning in to meet in another kiss, this one intentional.

It was sweet and dry like a spring afternoon, a soothing experience that still managed to fan the flames that were growing in the both of them. Tenten wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her hips, both pulling the other closer, body brushing against body and sending an electrical shock through the both of them that they felt down into their toes.

Then the kiss changed.

They began panting, tilting their heads to get a better angle, bringing each other closer as their holds tightened. Someone slipped in a tongue and then it was a sweet and heavy dance, one that was getting hotter, harder, and fiercer by the moment. One that quickly was broken when they heard a familiar voice spouting the wonders of youth as he got closer.

Tenten jumped up from Neji's lap -how had she gotten there?- and quickly began messing with the cooking food, tilting her head down to hide her flushed face and swollen lips.

Good God, she had just kissed Neji._She_ had kissed _Neji. _And more importantly she had liked it. A lot.

But they were on a mission; they were _teammates._ All of that couldn't have happened. It _hadn't_ happened.

But, as she felt Neji's eyes boring holes into her back, Tenten had to admit that it had happened. It had happened and they'd have to face the fact that they were now more than teammates and friends. But they'd have to do it later, when Gai wasn't screaming about the youthfulness of her cooking and Lee wasn't attempting to see if he could eat while balancing on two fingers.

* * *

Neji was ignoring her.

She'd go up to him to say hello or to see if they could just talk, and he would dash off as soon as he saw her, pretending like he couldn't hear her calling his name and couldn't see that she was the one who had thrown the kunai at his head. He always left a room as soon as she stepped in, always asked to be left out of any missions the two of them could have been on together and had taken to training at the other end of the training ground from her.

Not only was he ignoring her but he was doing it so blatantly in public that people were noticing.

She was determined to make all of this come to an end though when one day she was at the market and he was trying to leave. Again. With a furious growl she dropped her basket of food, reaching back for her kunai and taking off after him. "You bastard, get back here! Stop running away!" She screamed out, not really caring that people stared or were witnessing what she was determined would be the death of Hyuuga Neji.

They ran over the rooftops so fast that only the sharpest eyes would have caught them. Tenten tossed one of her kunai at him but he was quick to dodge, that damned 360 degree vision working perfectly. Tenten knew she only had one chance to go for his blind spot, and that that one chance couldn't be wasted. So she grabbed six of her kunai and threw them, leaving a seventh for when he dodged and moved to the perfect position for a hit.

He sensed it just before it hit the base of his spine and so he twisted, letting it tear through his side instead. He stopped, holding onto his side and leaning against one of the trees in the training ground they had ended up in, glaring at her.

"What?" He growled, glaring at the girl he had been successfully avoiding for the past two months. Tenten glared right back and put her hands on her hips as she remained ready for him to try and escape, to try and continue running.

She wasn't going to allow it.

"What do you mean, what?"

"What do you want, Tenten?"

Tenten widened her eyes at him as if surprised. "Oh, so I see you do remember who I am. That's a relief, we can certainly rule out amnesia now, though you being a dick is still certainly in the running."

"Tenten-"

"Oh no," She said politely, her glare becoming harder and brighter, her voice dripping with venom filled honey. "You don't get to talk. See, that was an option before, when you hadn't decided to make it your life's ambition to avoid me, but you don't get that choice now. Now you just get to stand there and listen to me scream at you before I kick your ass."

"Tenten, really, you need to be-"

"Be. Quiet." Neji, wary of how harsh her tone had become, complied.

"What happened... neither of us saw it coming, and it was weird. I get that. But you didn't have to spend all of this time avoiding me, pretending that I didn't exist or that I had some terrible disease that you didn't want to catch. I deserve better than that from you. I deserve to be treated with respect as your teammate, with respect as your friend, and respect as the girl you kissed that night." Tenten watched Neji wince, as if experiencing pain from the words she threw at him like barbed spears.

And that was all it took for Tenten to steel her heart against her next words. "So it didn't happen." His head jerked up and if Hyuuga Neji had been one to show actual emotions, Tenten would have said that he looked shocked.

"What? Tenten-"

Tenten cut him off again, her voice frigid. "It didn't happen. We never kissed, you never avoided me and it'll be just like it always was. We'll train, we'll go on missions, we'll act appropriately and we'll forget."

"Tenten-"

"You owe me at least this much." She waited until his head lowered slightly in acknowledgment before nodding to his bleeding side, slipping out of her defensive posture. "You should probably get that checked out." With that she turned and walked away, not wanting to let him see her run.

* * *

Tenten gritted her teeth and pulled her cloak closer to her, glaring into the darkness around her as she prayed for whoever had given her this damned mission would drop dead. Not only was it deep in what seemed to be the frozen depths of hell but it was also a mission that required optimum stealth, so there were no fires. And no fires meant no heat, which translated to Tenten sitting in a snow covered tree, freezing off every conceivable part of her body.

Lee, of course, was fine, believing this to be a type of training, and so he was only wearing a thin cloak and a bright smile. Neji was just sitting beside her, staring out stoically as they tried to stay silent and ignore the tension vibrating between them.

Tenten had found that it had become easier to pretend as time passed. She only had to look into those white eyes of his to remember how everything had fell apart and she was suddenly strong where she had been weak, suddenly able to smile and joke as if nothing was going wrong.

It was a defense mechanism she had become fond of.

Her watch over with, Tenten nodded off, curling up as tightly as possible while keeping her body in a position that was ready to spring into action at the moment even the slightest sign of danger.

She only had three hours of sleep before her internal clock woke her up, and only had five minutes after that to eat the dried food she had packed before they were darting off, the run quickly warming their chilled blood.

The package was easily delivered and then they stood in the front room of a warm and welcoming inn, arguing over what to do.

"We could make it back to Konoha in four days!" Tenten glared at Lee and his happy grin, hating it all with every fiber of her being. "Lee. There is a blizzard going on outside. A _blizzard. _We are not stepping a foot outside until it clears up. We have time, we have no important missions, and more importantly, here we have heat."

"But-"

"No. We're staying."

Tenten turned to Neji, who was the leader of the mission, and tilted her head. "Any objections?" His eyes held hers as he shook his head no and she nodded back at him, ignoring the tiny flips her stomach was doing. She walked up to the front desk and requested some rooms, but the kindly faced lady told her that they only had one room available.

They had shared a single room before, even smaller rooms that had had them nearly ripping off each other's heads due to the proximity. But with how she and Neji seemed to be getting along, could she take it? Could she remain so close to him and not go crazy?

She'd just have to chance it, because the more important choice was between the cold and a room. Obviously, it was no contest.

The room was small and quaint, a cozy quilt covered bed sitting in front of a charming and crackling fireplace, the drapes pulled against the unforgiving white wall of the world outside. Tenten trudged over and fell face down on the bed, not even bothering to slip off her shoes. The bed was warm and soft, and Tenten was exhausted. Neji murmured something to Lee and then left the room; not that Tenten cared, of course.

And because of just how little she cared she made sure not to ask Lee where he had gone, not wanting anyone to see how little she cared. With a sigh she pushed herself up and took off her shoes, agitated by how _little_ she cared, only to see Lee setting up his bedroll, obviously leaving the bed to her.

"Lee, you don't have to sleep on the floor, there's plenty of room up here."

"Oh, Tenten I couldn't-"

"Just shut up and sleep in the bed. I'm tired." Lee complied quickly, not bothered by the prospect of the floor but grateful all the same. Tenten had to wonder at the hesitation; after all, they had all shared beds before, even with Gai. It hadn't been such a big deal then, so why now?

She shook her head as she took off a few of her layers, snuggling down underneath the covers before turning out the light, thankful for this little bit of warmth.

That was, however, until she was awakened by a harsh voice coming from cross the room, telling her to wake up. Tenten blinked around the room, awake instantly and taking in her surroundings, and also the fact that she seemed to be plastered to Lee's back.

It didn't really bother her since it had happened before with each her teammates and her friends. Whenever she slept she always gravitated to the closest and greatest source of heat near her, and when she slept with someone it always ended up being the other person. So she didn't care and Lee -who had been put in the same position before- didn't either.

But Neji, who watched them from the chair in the corner of the room with his icy gaze, seemed to be bothered by _something_. "Is it time for breakfast?" Tenten asked, stretching out the kinks in her back and pretending that the frigidness of Neji's stare hadn't given her pause and didn't bother her in the least.

"No." Was his short and sharp reply.

Lee jumped out of the bed with his usual exuberance, declaring that he would allow Tenten into the bath first, which she accepted gratefully, willing to do anything to escape the severity of Neji's mood.

Of course, never one to wallow in the shower, Tenten was out in ten minutes, ringing the excess water out of her hair before tying it up in her signature style. She tried to linger over the little lotions the inn had provided but there really wasn't much to do with it other than rub it into her skin, and Lee still needed to get in the bathroom and go through his daily routine.

But once alone in the room with Neji she simply ignored him and his bad mood, staring out of the window and at the rapidly swirling snow.

Ignoring a situation wasn't what she usually did though, so this only lasted a few minutes before she turned to Neji, sighing in annoyance at his still icy stare. "What's the matter with you?"

His eyes remained level and his face blank as he blatantly lied. "There's nothing wrong with me."

Tenten snorted. "Please, I know you better than that, Neji."

He pressed his lips together so that they formed a fine line, turning his head away from her and towards the door. But Tenten was able to see what others wouldn't have, and was able to deduce everything from the way his eyes flickered as they quickly glanced over the bed. She had to blink at him incredulously.

"You're upset that I cuddled with Lee?" She didn't add anything about how she couldn't exactly control it, wanting to watch the way his face flinched back when presented the truth. Tenten shoved off off the wall, walking to the door and opening it, though she didn't leave. Not yet.

"You know," She said, keeping her voice low and clam, not adding a bit of emotion to her voice. "You had a chance. Don't get annoyed with me over things that have nothing to do with you." Not that anything -_ever- _would happen with Lee, but looking at Neji, seeing him acting like such a prick after everything, it just made her so mad. And so what if she was using Lee as an example? She could cuddle with anyone she wanted, and Neji knew that she and Lee would never and could never get together like that.

Though from the way he treated the both of them during breakfast, Tenten was surprised he didn't try and brave the still ongoing blizzard and leave them.

They decided to stay throughout the day to see if the blizzard would end by night, so the hours passed slowly as they and the other patrons of the inn tried to pass the time. Neji had went up to the room to meditate and Lee was telling stories of their adventures, thrilling the small crowd that sat around him, while Tenten sat at a table and played poker with some of the male patrons.

She was also winning.

The man across from her -a plump red haired and freckle faced fur trader- groaned and watched as Tenten took the pot again. He glanced dismally down at his dwindling pile of money and then over at the teenager who sat in front of him. "You mind giving me some of that luck? My wife will kill me if I lose any more."

Tenten smiled at the man, and then turned as the elderly man next to her pulled heavily on his pipe, a sure sign he was about to tell another one of the stories he had been giving out as they played. He was a retired musician, his eyes still alight with the youth his body had lost long ago, his dominant feature the large white mustache that wiggled funnily when he talked.

"I knew a girl that had a winning streak like you do, back nearly thirty years ago. She wrung the house dry and then gave all but five dollars away to charity. She had the same hair as you."

The man on her right slammed a large, work hardened hand on the table. "So it's the hair!" He boomed out. Tenten's smile turned into a grin as the burly woodcutter studied her hair with interest, puffing on his fat cigar.

"Maybe it is. I could put the hairstyle on you, if you want, though it would take away from your handsome face and make you look absolutely ridiculous."

He stayed silent for a short beat of time before he threw his head back, roaring with laughter. "Damn it girl, you might not be good for my wallet but you're certainly doing something for my ego." He said, slapping her on the back in a way that would have sent a lesser man through the wall. And then he delighted her by pulling a cigar from his pocket and passing it to her.

This was how Neji found her an hour later, him walking up in his usual calm manner, pale eyes taking in the sheer debauchery of the moment. Tenten had kicked off her shoes and had her feet up in the lap of the redheaded man, payment for the last round he had lost. She was smoking a cigar and had a glass of the inn's finest whiskey at her elbow, a pile of her winnings in front of her.

Neji stopped a few feet away from the scene, waiting for Tenten to notice him. She grinned when she did, taking her feet away from the man across from her and gesturing Neji over. "Hey, you want to join in for a game?" She asked, deciding to forget about everything that had happened earlier in light of how happy her new group of friends had made her.

Neji glared at the gathered group, making the men pause and watch him warily. "Tenten, what are you doing?"

"Passing time by playing poker." Tenten's happy glow faded a bit, and for what seemed to be the thousandth time that day she cursed Neji. "What's wrong with that?"

"You're underage, for one, and you're acting far too familiar with these men. Not to mention the fact that you're smoking, which is very unbecoming."

Tenten glared at him and took a long drag of her cigar, filling her mouth with the bitter smoke and then blowing it out in a steady stream into Neji's face. "Screw. You."

The whole room went silent, watching the exchange of the two strangers, the silence stretching out eternally as the two glared at each other murderously. But even though the crowd watched them as if their lives depended on it, they were unable to see the way Neji reached out and grabbed Tenten's wrist, jerking her out of her chair.

But they all saw the way she jerked away and went to round house kick him. "What the hell?!" She shouted, even more annoyed by the way he so easily jumped out of the way.

"You shouldn't be acting like that, doing things like that."

"Why do you care? It's not like you have any reason to get upset by anything I do, be it gambling or cuddling!"

"I have a right."

"Oh," She hissed, her glare becoming as bright as it had ever been. "No, you don't. You gave up that right _month_s ago, or don't you remember?"

"I-" But he was interrupted by the woodcutter. "Hey, are you two dating?"

Tenten snorted and ignored the jab of pain that arrowed through her gut and into her heart. "No, we're not."

"But what if I want to?"

Tenten turned slowly, not really sure if she had heard right. "What?" She asked, her anger leaving her so suddenly that it left her dizzy, her throat going dry and her palms growing damp. He couldn't really be saying what she thought he was saying could he? That boat had already sailed and was so far off on the horizon, it was only a little black speck.

"I said that I want to." His eyes flickered for a moment, a slight blush overtaking his cheeks and making Tenten gape at him. He hadn't even blushed when they had made out.

"I... ah... but, before..." He shrugged.

"I wasn't really all that sure what to do."

That was the worst excuse. Ever. Really, she should be yelling at him, denying him any chance of forgiveness, forcing him to pay for everything.

But she didn't do that. Instead she launched herself at Neji, the cigar falling forgotten to the ground as she pressed her lips against his. A cheer went up in the room, causing the two to jerk apart and go up to the room, ignoring that the loudest and proudest cheering came from their friend, who seemed to be crying from his joy.

They stared at each other once in the room, not really sure about what to do. Finally, Neji was the first to speak. "Are you going to keep smoking?" Tenten thought about how awful that kiss must have tasted, her lips twitching as she shook her head. "Are you going to spoon with Lee again?" She grinned this time, coming up to Neji and wrapping her arms around his neck playfully.

"Not if you sleep with me instead."

* * *

Okay, I know this deviated from the little excerpt about this in "Feelings" (I think she said about four lines about the kiss), and I was going to keep it with what "Feelings" said, having Tenten bother Neji until he finally confessed his feelings. But the muse that resides in my head (let's call her Kathy) said, "Bitch, please." And came up with this instead.

So we're seeing an already slightly jealous Neji and a Tenten who is nothing like I had her before Kathy intervened.

But it came out pretty good and ended with them together, so it's fine.

Oh, and the going towards the warmth thing during sleep? I have a friend who does this and whenever she stays over with me I always find her right up against me when we wake up. It's pretty funny, really.

Love you!


	10. Jealousy, NejiTen

Tenten sat in a snug little booth in a classy little club, blowing her bangs out of her eyes as she tried to figure out why she had gotten dressed up in her little black dress and heels to come and sit by herself for an hour.

Ah yes, because Neji had promised to be there.

It had been weeks since they had seen each other, missions and clan politics keeping them apart. The missions had been her fault since she had volunteered for them, and the politics weren't even Neji's fault. The clan elders had finally caught wind of Hinata's and Naruto's relationship and were throwing a conniption fit, calling on every capable Hyuuga to protect their precious heir from such terrible influences.

But the man had called her and told her to meet him. He shouldn't have gotten her hopes up if there had been even a chance he couldn't make it, especially since she had put on her sexy underwear.

Not that he'd ever see it if and when he decided to show up.

So, sitting there and pouting into her drink, she didn't notice the man until he slid into the seat across from her. "Now, why's a girl like you sitting all alone in a dress like that?" Her lips twitched as she took in the man, happy to not have to look like a loser who went alone to clubs like this anymore.

"It is a damn good dress, isn't it?" He grinned at her, his dark eyes gleaming in the low light, bright hair falling across his forehead charmingly, the tips brushing against his shiny forehead protector. He was beyond handsome, looking almost godly as he sat there flirting with her. All too happy to feel pampered, Tenten leaned in and started playing the game with him.

"Boyfriend is running late." He didn't even falter at the mention of a boyfriend, seemingly more amused than anything.

"Only an idiot would leave a lady like you waiting, Little panda." Tenten, who had been sipping her soda, choked on the drink, feeling the burn of it in her nose as she tried to figure out where _that_ had come from.

"What?"

"Your hair," He said, nodding to her customary style. "Like two little panda ears. It's cute." Tenten leaned back and crossed her arms, smiling as she felt a blush bloom on her cheeks.

"Damn, you're good."

He smiled at her in a way that would have charmed a snake into doing the Charleston, his eyes twinkling. "Thank you, but it's easy with someone like you." Another blush. "Would you mind if I bought you an actual drink?" Tenten thought about it, about how nice it would be to be treated like this for a little while longer, but she just really wasn't up for it.

"Sorry cutie, but my time's up. Thanks for the offer though, and the ego booster." He grinned once more and waved goodbye, watching her as she left with regret. If her eyes and legs had told the story right, she would have been a lot of fun.

Tenten sipped the fruity little drink Sakura had ordered for her, propping her chin on her fist as she listened to her friends' inputs into her little predicament. Sakura and Ino were just as outraged as they would have been if it had happened to them, and Hinata sat quietly across from her, stirring her drink with her straw.

"Hey, what do you think about all of this, Hinata?" Ino asked, sipping her martini.

Hinata looked down at her hands, biting her lips. "W-well, he left the estate early so that he could meet with you, so I don't know what could have happened... but I'm sure he has his reasons." Tenten nodded, sipping her daiquiri.

"Oh, I know he does, but I'm not going to listen to them for a while. Give it time to settle down, you know?"

The girls nodded and Tenten turned to Hinata. "How's it going with you and Naruto?"

Hinata smiled into her glass, her eyes softening as the tiny traces of nervousness melted away completely. "Good. It's been a bit more difficult with how the council is reacting, but Naruto has been coming up with all these plans for us to be alone for a few hours and it's not as difficult as it could be..." She said, leading off as Tenten easily picked up her meaning. _It wasn't as difficult as it could have been without Neji's help, so please don't be too upset._

Tenten was about to tell her not to worry when a stealthy presence appeared behind her. "Well now, if it isn't Panda, the elusive girl with a missing boyfriend." Tenten smiled and turned.

"And if it isn't Cutie, the flirt and ego booster." The smiled at each other before the man pulled a seat up to their table and straddled it.

Ino leaned forward, her eyes eating the sight of the handsome man up. "Who's this, Tenten?" Tenten looked at him and smirked.

"Actually, we didn't really catch each other's names." Ino blinked, wondering how anyone could go five minutes without begging to know his name, relationship status and number.

Tenten held her hand out for his, smiling. "I'm Tenten." He took it and gave it a slow shake. "Ryou," He said as he brought her hand up to brush his lips over her knuckles, effectively stealing the breath of every girl at the table. "It's a pleasure to have met you, Beautiful Tenten."

"Damn," Ino whispered, and Tenten was about to make a remark to the same effect when a sudden killing intent flared behind them.

They turned slowly to find Neji, his eyes blazing as they remained on his girlfriend's hand, which had never been removed from Ryou's.

In a blink of an eye he was over at the table, jerking Ryou's hand away from Tenten's and dragging her from the bar, never saying a word and instead letting the fury that rolled off of him in waves do the speaking for him.

Ryou winced as he held his wrist, sincerely hoping that it wasn't broken. "Let me guess, that was the boyfriend." The three girls nodded and Ino leaned forward.

"Yes, but I, however, have no relationships currently and can heal that wrist of yours, no charge."

Tenten tried to keep up with Neji's furious pace, cursing as her heels got caught in crack after crack in the sidewalk, causing her to stumble. "Damn it Neji! Stop for a minute, will you?" He let go of her, causing her to wobble a bit before catching her balance again. She flexed her wrist, frowning at the small twinge of pain the movement caused. "Geez," She muttered, looking around to find that he had pulled her into the now deserted park. "Listen, Neji-"

"I don't want you to see him again." He said, his back to her. Tenten blinked, unsure if she had heard him right.

"What?"

He turned to face her, his colorless eyes cutting through the darkness of the night and meeting hers, blazing and beautiful.

"I don't want you to meet with that man again. Ever. He was far too familiar with you."

Tenten stared at him for a moment, her lips threatening to twitch into a smile. "Neji, are you... jealous?" His face bloomed red and his eyes left hers, staring off into the distance as he tried to control his embarrassment.

Tenten nearly gaped.

She had always been worried about the girls, the ones who saw a powerful Hyuuga and slid there skirts up a bit more and their shirts down, begging to be seen and be wanted. She had never really worried about him cheating on her -he was far too honorable- but she had worried about the looks he always got and had worried that one day he'd notice them and leave her for one of the tarts. But she had _never_ thought about Neji being anything but... Neji.

Neji was always so calm and controlled, so much so that some might have called him emotionless. That was the Neji that she knew, the one she was used to. But this Neji was none of those things. He was jealous, embarrassed and... adorable.

So adorable that she just wanted to hug him and hide him away from the rest of the world.

A giggle slipped through her guard, making Neji's eyes snap back to her and causing his anger to increase tenfold. "Don't laugh!" He shouted as he suddenly shoved her into a nearby tree, holding her there and leaning his face into hers so that she could see just how serious and mad he was.

"I don't want you to see him again, I don't want you to talk to him again, and I definitely don't want you to let him _touch_ you again. In fact, I don't want you to go to another one of those girl nights again."

"Wait, what?" This was quickly going from cute to unacceptable.

"It's obviously what caused the problem, what with you getting all dressed up and giving people the wrong ideas and drinking the way you do."

Tenten's eyes flashed and she decided that that was as far as she'd let him go. After all, she wanted for them to still be dating when she woke up tomorrow. "Excuse me?" She shouted as she shoved him away, "Who do you think you are, thinking you can boss _me_ around?"

"Your boyfriend." He gritted out, causing Tenten to laugh right in his face.

"Good God, do you seriously think that _that_ gives you permission? You're a hundred years too late to have that kind of attitude, mister."

He tried to grab her wrist again and she swatted him away. Glaring at each other they battled for dominance, at first just with him trying to grab her and with her shoving him away, but then it quickly morphed into a real, full blown fight.

Her dress ripped and she lost her heels, ignoring all of this in favor of trying to dodge his gentle chakra filled blows. He in turn had various rips in his own clothes and a scratch on his cheek from where she had unexpectedly thrown one of her now lost heels at him.

Tenten, having decided to end this quickly, winced and cried out as she dropped to the ground, holding her ankle. Neji dropped his bakugan and went over to her and was trying to see what was wrong when she sprung at him, pinning him down to the ground as she straddled him, holding his hands above his head.

They both glared at each other for a moment, panting, before they let their anger go and just watched each other for a moment.

"I'm not going to stop going to girl's night just because you're a little upset." He stared at her silently for a moment before she rolled her eyes. "Fine, maybe you're more than a little upset. But it's not my fault. He was just harmlessly flirting with me, which would never have happened if you had been at our date the other night!"

Neji sighed at her, as if he were an adult and she a troublesome child. "Check my bag."

Tenten watched him warily, getting up to grab the bag he had dropped when their fight had begun. She rustled in it for a moment, pulling out a long black box. Looking questionably at Neji, who had taken advantage of his freedom to sit up, she opened it and stared.

In it lay a matching pair of _sai_ on black velvet, each over a foot in length. They were simple, elegant weapons, the prongs curving up on either side of the lethal blades. They gleamed even in the darkness, shining with beauty and power, the only thing disrupting the smoothness of the blades was the engravings of her name on either side of the blades.

Tenten looked up at Neji, brushing her fingertips over the blade lovingly, the gift meaning more to her than any jewelry he could have gotten her. "Neji..."

"I was at the shop picking it up before I was supposed to meet with you, and would have been on time but the man had your name spelled with an 'I' instead of an 'E', and the hassle made me an hour and a half late."

Tenten thought about how if she had waited a few more minutes she would have gotten the present earlier, but she quickly dismissed the thoughts, never being one to dwell on such things. Instead she slipped the box back into his bag calmly, slinging the bag over her shoulder before launching herself at Neji, pinning him to the ground again as she kissed him.

"Tenten-" She shook her head and pressed her lips against his again, stealing all of his words.

"Ten-" She cut him off again, smiling as she began to unbutton his shirt. He gave in for a few moments until he felt the night's cool breeze brush his chest. "Tenten, God... Stop!" She propped her elbow on his chest, resting her chin on her fist as she stared down at him to wait for an explanation. "Tenten, we're in the park."

"So we are." She giggled at his blank stare, tracing a finger down his sharp and aristocratic nose. "You know," She said conversationally, watching for his reaction, "You're cute when you get jealous."

He gaped like a fish, opening and closing his mouth in shock. "I can do without you ordering me around though."

When he did nothing more than stare at her with shock and more than a little bit of outrage she sighed and stood up, walking away. "Where are you going?" He asked, hurrying to get up and go after her.

"Since you seem to be against parks, I figured that my apartment would have to do." She paused to throw him a look over her shoulder filled with promises of the night to come.

"Are you coming?"

* * *

Okay, about the weapon Neji gave Tenten: A _sai _(not like the character Sai) is the same weapon Elektra from the Marvel comics uses, or Raphael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles uses (He's the red angry one).

If you don't know who they are (shame on you!), google the weapon and look at some pictures. It's a pretty neat and versatile weapon, one that Tenten is more than happy to add to her collection.

Oh, and about Ryou: he will never show up again (Kathy promises).

He and Ino have a few fun little trysts in bed, and then they both move on easily. He will settle down with a normal woman that he knocked up, and they will have three kids and a dog before they have a break after ten years, but they'll get back together and live a comfortable live together.

Love you all lots! Big, happy panda baby hugs for all of you! (Because who doesn't want to hug a baby panda?)


	11. Caught in the Rain, Shikamaru

The way Maria first introduced herself to Shikamaru was, in simple terms, beyond embarrassing.

She had been informed upon her arrival at her new home -a charming little duplex surrounded by its identical friends- that a ninja lived next door to her. She hadn't really been to focused on it, more bothered by her mother nagging in her ear about how if she was going to buy a family home she should at least have a _family_ first.

But as she slowly got more settled into her home, the gossipers swept upon her steps and whispered to her stories of her neighbor.

He was a genius ninja who was revered as one of the more capable and strategic of all the Konoha nin. He was married, though his wife had been missing for years now, and he had two children that he was raising all by his self.

And he never took off his ring.

She sometimes heard the laughter of children at play, the sounds of scoldings and of the begging for just five more minutes, happy family sounds she hoped to hear from her own home sometime in the future.

She always kept herself away from that other half of the building though, never really sure as to why. But she just sensed that something would... change if she dared to approach it.

One night on her way home from her work at the library it started to rain. It was only a small drizzle when it started, forcing Maria to pop up the collar of her coat to try and stay dry during the walk home, though the thought didn't last long when the rain abruptly began to pound down on her, soaking her to the bone in a matter of moments.

She ran up her steps, shoving her hands in her pockets in a desperate search for her keys. She paused for the barest second, beginning her search again by patting up and down her body with increased fervor. Then she stopped, accepting the unavoidable truth: she had forgotten her keys.

Banging her head against her door, she closed her eyes against the droplets that flowed down her face, trying to just figure out how she could get inside. If only she knew how to pick a lock or- pick a lock.

Her eyes flew open and she flew down her steps and up the neighboring set, banging on the door desperately.

As first impressions went, the one Shikamaru got of Maria when he opened the door wasn't very good. He'd been getting Asuma ready for bed, helping him with his bath while simultaneously listening to Kyoko's account of all of the cartoons she had watched and bugs she had found in the park that day when the annoying knock had sounded on his door. He had opened it to find a woman with a crazy look in her eyes, looking like a drowned animal in her soaked clothes and her hair hanging in heavy strings, makeup streaking under her eyes.

All he could think of was that this -whatever this was- was going to be troublesome.

"Ye-"

"Could you break into my house for me?" Shikamaru blinked, uncertain that he had heard right but also sure that he had. "What?"

She shoved a clump of her heavy hair behind her ear, blowing out her breath. "I'm your neighbor, Maria, and I forgot my keys God knows where. So I was wondering if you'd be kind enough to break into my house for me." She paused, looking him over with a critical eye, taking in his messily tied up hair and his bath time dampened clothes. "You are a ninja, aren't you?"

Shikamaru had a choice, many choices actually. He could say yes and help her or say yes and then no. He could say no all around, and he could also just close the door in her face. But as he watched the wet woman with bored eyes he felt the prickle on the back of his neck which could only mean that his children were watching him. Heaving out a sigh he reached beside him to grab his umbrella, closing the door behind him as he followed the harried and grateful woman.

The lock was simple to take care of, pathetic really, and when it was done he turned away to leave. "Hey!" He turned, expecting to see the same grumpy sight as before. Instead he was met with a radiant smile, making everything that had obviously gone wrong with her day suddenly evaporate. "Thank you!"

And he smiled, turning back without a word, not even noticing that he had caused Maria's heart to stumble and stutter.

* * *

Kathy came up with this one randomly, so I just wrote it down for her.

I was thinking about how Shikamaru and Maria would have met, and obviously Shikamaru wouldn't have approached her, so I had to figure out why Maria would approach a complete stranger. And why else would you approach a ninja but to break into your house?

Kisses my darlings!


	12. Nightly Visits, ShikaTema

Some ShikaTema for my peeps.

I was looking over the stories I've written and I noticed that I've written about their kids, I've written about him missing her and her not being there, but I haven't written about _them, _and they're my second favorite couple in Naruto! (NaruHina is first) So, here's some slightly smexy ShikaTema action.

* * *

A breeze blew in through the open window, dragging lazy chilled fingers over Temari's bare shoulders and feet. Grumbling, she tried to tuck herself into the blankets more so not to escape the solace of sleep, but the next frigid blast had her alert immediately. She stubbornly kept her eyes closed, refusing to open them until she was good and ready. Instead she opted to poke her lover's side, lips twitching at the annoyed grumble he gave to signal he was awake.

"Go close the window."

"You do it. You're closer." Temari snorted, feeling the way he was trying to keep sleep's embrace around him just as she was. But she was she and he was he, and she didn't want to get up, so he had to.

"And who's the one who opened it sneaking in here?"

"I wouldn't have to do that if you'd just come over to my place. There aren't any guards who will report my every movement to my homicidal brothers over _there_."

Her lips twitched. She had been considering going over to his place for some time now, but that would mean she would be giving him the home advantage where as if they were here, in her room, she had the upper hand.

And that was something she just didn't feel like giving up just yet.

So she kicked his leg, making him grumble and sigh as he went over to close the blasted window. Slowly cracking her eyes open she watched as the very naked and sexy Nara Shikamaru closed the window, giving her a _very_ nice view of the goods. Propping herself up on her elbow, she waited for him to turn around, and when he did she couldn't help but grin. The sheet had slipped down to her waist, leaving her breasts bare for him to see, to worship.

She watched as his Adam's apple bobbed and as his arousal reacted, though he was quickly schooling his face back into his usual expression of boredom. He was getting better at hiding how much he was affected by her, though in his current undressed state he couldn't hide everything from her.

Wearing only a wicked grin she crooked her finger to beckon him over to her, eyes promising him so many things –wonderful and powerful things- that it would have been foolish to try and pretend he didn't want it, that he didn't want her. So he went to her and surrendered.

Afterward, as she lay beside him trying to catch her breath, feeling the tingle that could only come from power and release, she turned her head to look at the man –the only man- that had been sharing her bed the past year.

She had always been the dominant one, the one who set the rules and made the decisions. She had always, _always,_ been in control. But she didn't really control anything in the relationship between the two of them, even if he complained endlessly about her having too much power.

The relationship between she and Shikamaru was different from anything she had ever had before. It was like the two of them were fighting a war, neither side really giving in, even though the few times they had it had blown both of their minds. They were both too hard headed, too set in their ways to even think about giving in completely to the other.

Most people probably thought the constant struggle for dominance was strange but Temari thought it was exactly what the two of them needed and liked. After all, it was pretty hot having someone challenging her instead of falling in line obediently at times, though the times he did follow her lead -like a few minutes before- left her with a sense of accomplishment that could only come from what they had together.

So maybe she'd start thinking about going to his place every now and then.

She flopped onto her stomach and snuggled into her pillow, curling her arms under it as she waited for Shikamaru to find the incentive to pull the sheet up over the both of them. It only took a few minutes and then he was settling in sleepily beside her, curling one muscular arm underneath the his pillow as he put the other arm around her waist, dragging her a little closer to him.

He was warm and strong, solid and steady and everything Temari had never known she wanted or needed. Shifting a little bit closer she turned her head towards the man at her side and took in his lax expression, the long and silky soft strands hair that spread over his pillow -a contrast to her coarser ones.

He was younger than her -a point she had used often in the past to get her point across- and though it galled her to admit it, smarter and more strategic. But she was proud to say she gave him challenges, ones that he couldn't get past by simply using clever words or games like he did with others. With her he had to really think, and she was proud to know that she was the only person this was true for.

She cared for him, she hoped that much was evident. She wouldn't call it love -to be the first to call it that would be like being the first to admit defeat- but she could admit to... feelings. She was gentler with him, kinder and showing him a softer side she had never -_ever_- showed to anyone before him, even if he did argue that she was just as prickly as ever with him.

"What?" He mumbled, unable to escape the prickling sensation of her staring at him even half asleep.

"I'm leaving for Suna in a few days." She whispered, lips twitching when he grunted, already knowing this for a fact.

It was difficult moving back and forth for "work", but she wouldn't trade her "work" or her actual job for anything. Not when she felt this every time she went back to Konoha.

But she had noticed something the past few visits. She had stopped referring to Suna as home and had even stopped thinking of it as such. Her lover was here in Konoha along with all of her friends and the feeling of home just seemed to settle over the village so perfectly.

She was settling in, and didn't give a damn.

She thought about the possibility of staying in the hidden leaf village for longer than a handful of weeks at a time, perhaps even staying here... indefinitely. Though before she made her decision she'd have to have a better reason than just sex.

"Shika?"

"Hmm?"

"Is your door going to be open tomorrow or will I have to play ninja and break in through the window?" She felt the arm around her waist tightened, bringing her fractionally closer to him.

"Troublesome woman, be quiet and go to sleep." His tone was irritated, but he didn't even bother to hide the smile that grew on his lips.


	13. The Kids

Thought i'd introduce you to my kids (the OCs).

I'm not adding new ones (I already basically have their lives planned out in my head).

Why no Lee kids, you may ask.

Well, it'll all be explained later (And some of this (not the core stuff like the amount and such) may be subject to changes as I write the stories and get their characters ironed out)

And the ages are how old they were in the chapter _"Girl Time" _(just in case there's any confusion)

* * *

**NaruHina kids-**

**Kori** (girl, 14) blonde hair and white eyes. She is the eldest and most and most responsible of the children (other than Mino). Her closest friend is Karin. Though she has more "Hyuuga" eyes than the other children, her chakra control is flimsy and she is unable to hold bakugan for long periods of time or do the gentle fist, and so she focuses more on taijutsu and trains with Lee. She is very even tempered, and is generally feared in the mornings because of how she will attack you if you bother her, because she is NOT a morning person. She loves her friends, family and teammates, and like all of the Uzumaki children she inherited her parents ninja way.

**Yuki** (girl, 9) dark blue hair and blue tinted white eyes. she follows her twin's directions, knowing that she can help her out of trouble and that it will be more fun. She, unlike the other Uzumaki children, uses the bakugan and is a prodigy in her own right with seals. She is quieter and calmer than her twin, but is easily excitable when it comes to studying or learning new things with the seals.

**Yuka** (girl, 9) dark blue hair and blue tinted white eyes. Often trying to catch up with her younger brother, she tries to make crazy new ninjitsus, and sometimes they are successful, though the uses vary. She is the more outgoing of the twins, though she gets scared and nervous more easily. Enjoys studying for new things with her twin, and though she loves being a ninja she feels that she is not fully suited for a life as a fighter.

**Leo** (boy, 6) Wild red hair and blue eyes with a slight violet tint, he is the "wildest" looking. Greatest chakra control, and is the most talented of the children with ninjitsu. The best at hiding and sneaking and is the fastest. Though not a prankster, he is often questioned about the more suspicious pranks (he feels no need for pranks, and feels that they are a waste of time that could be spent training to become a better ninja) because most people believe he inherited _that_ from his father as well. He believes his father is the strongest and greatest ninja ever, and that his mother is the perfect kunoichi

**Mino** (boy, 2) dark blue hair, white eyes. A miniature copy of his mother, the baby of the family. Calm and quiet. When he gets older he is the only one to follow the Hyuuga training. He, when compared to his siblings, is seen as unfeeling and cold, and is thought to be more of a Hyuuga than Uzumaki. He loves his family though he rarely shows it, and is even tempered and the most meticulous.

But even though he is thought of by others as stiff and uncaring, his family loves him. He also has the greatest temper of the children, deadly when he snaps.

**NejiTen kids-**

**Rin** (girl,13) black hair and Hyuuga eyes. She is very excitable and is obsessed with swords (mostly kantana), but is also quite girly. She is skilled with the gentle fist, but she actually favors fighting with her kantana (a birthday gift from her mother) because when she tries too hard she is too forceful and messes up.

Her favorite pass-time is taking care of her swords. She is surprisingly girly (considering her parents), and is very lady like (she is often compared to a princess).

**KakaSaku kids-**

**Karin** (girl, 13) White hair green eyes. She inherited her mother's chakra control, and her father's love of reading (though cleaner books). She wishes to become a great ninja like her father, and she knows it will be hard to catch up with the "copy ninja" so she trains extra hard. Her closest friend is Kori, though she refuses to train with her and Lee (they're crazy).

**Jiro** (boy, 6) light (nearly white) pink hair and black eyes. He looks more like his father than his mother, and has his more laid back attitude. He has great chakra control and wants to be a medic-nin like his mother, and has already started some of the poison training with his mother.

**ShikaTema kids-**

**Kyoko** (girl, 11) black hair black eyes. She is more independent than her brother and is used to helping take care of him. She isn't as smart as her father, but she does have his talent for analyzing things. Instead of saying her fathers "troublesome" she often asks "why me?" when she gets pulled into the incidents the other children get into. A prodigy with the shadow manipulations.

**Asuma** (boy, 7) blond hair green eyes. Only has vague memories of his mother from when he was a baby (2) (says he remembers her voice and how she smelled). He isn't as lazy as his father, but he has many of the same hobbies. He idolizes his sister, though he'd never tell her that, and he is desperately working on his shadow techniques to catch up with her. Best friends with Ringo.

**InoCho kids-**

**Ringo** (girl, 7) brown hair blue eyes. She, like her father, loves food, though she isn't constantly snacking. She inherited her mother's mind-body-swap technique, though it's a bit different where she can connect to their minds over longer distances and doesn't have to see them, she just has to have had previous contact. She also has an amazing metabolism, and is skinnier than her siblings.

She is a tomboy, and is constantly irritating her mother by destroying all attempts to get her more girly (dresses, pretty hair, nice clothes)

Name means apple.

**Anzu** (girl, 5) Blonde hair brown eyes. She is obviously a Akimichi, round and chubby. She isn't as sensitive about her weight as her father was, and instead of his ever present chips she carries gummies. She takes greater pride in her looks than her older sister, listening to everything she hears about fashion as if it were gospel. Very girly, she often scolds her sisters for not acting with more decorum, and hates getting dirty (unless she has a reason to).

Name means apricot.

**Momo **(girl, 3) brown hair brown eyes. A miniature Choji, though a girl and adorable. Small and chubby, she is the full package of "cute". She is always following Ringo around and attempts to do whatever she does. She gets away with more stuff because of how cute she is, and takes pride in her looks. She had two red circles (small, slightly bigger than dimples) on her cheeks, like Choji's swirls.

Name means peach.


	14. Story Time, KakaSaku

Sakura couldn't believe she was doing this.

She quietly made her way down the hall of the hospital, wincing every time someone who knew her called her name, smiling a strained smile at them and hoping that they didn't see her true reason for being there. She held her breath as she stood outside of the closed door, praying that this would go well and that no one would ever, _ever _know.

Silently she opened the door and quickly closed it behind her, shuffling into the room and staring at the bed resignedly.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing?" The white haired copy nin paused, blinking his one eye at the girl slowly.

"Ah... Sakura. What are you doing here?" Sakura sighed and sat her bag down beside the chair, reaching over to take Kakashi's hands and sit them down on the bed, gentle due to the injuries that were hidden by the bandages that Kakashi had been trying to bite through.

"Kakashi-sensei, why were you trying to take off your bandages?" His eye crinkled in a hopeful smile.

"Well, you see, there was this poor little injured bird that needed them more than me so..." Sakura held up her hand.

"No. Stop. Just... stop. You know you need those bandages."

"No, I don't believe I do."

"Kakashi, nearly all of the skin was burned off your hands! You can't even pick things up or hold things." Kakashi pouted, looking around dismally.

"But Sakura-chan, I don't like the hospital." Sakura narrowed her eyes at the man, a well respected ninja of the leaf and a huge crybaby when it came to hospitals.

"Don't you _Sakura-chan _me, Sensei, especially when I came here to make a deal with you." He looked at her bleakly; all of his thoughts on how much he hated the damned bandages and the damn hospital who put the bandages on him.

"Oh?"

Sakura closed her eyes and picked up her bag, holding it tightly. "I want you to stop hassling all of the nurses, stop trying to escape and stop trying to eat your bandages."

"Oh." He wasn't even trying to pretend to be interested, just sitting there staring at the wall, silently begging for some enemy nin to come through and mercifully kill him.

"And if you do," She said, taking a breath as she pulled the item out of her bag. "I'll give you this." And she held out something that filled her with trepidation and him with complete joy. He looked at her disbelievingly, his hands twitching towards his beloved _Icha Icha_ book.

"Sakura... I-"

"Do you promise?" He mutely nodded his head, and Sakura winced, knowing what she would have to do next. "Since you can't use your hands I'll... have to read it out loud." Kakashi blinked and threw his head back, roaring in laughter. Sakura looked around, almost expecting to see dozens of people peering at her and the cursed book she held.

"Shh! Shhhhh! Hush! Kakashi-sensei, God!" He managed to regain control of himself, though only just.

"I don't think you want to do that, do you?" Sakura lowered her eyes and shook her head.

Kakashi looked at her dejected and embarrassed slouch and thought that he could maybe let her go without any more embarrassment. But then his book caught his eye and any thoughts of letting it go were forgotten.

"Here, sit here." He said, gesturing to the space on the small bed next to him. Sakura blinked, not really comprehending. "Sit down and hold up the book for me."

It took a few minutes to get situated, and when they finally got settled she was sitting in between his legs, his chin on her shoulder so that he could read over it. Sakura was so embarrassed and she could feel her face flame in pure mortification. This was just so... strange.

As he read, grunting when he wanted her to turn the page, Sakura tried to keep her attention on anything other than the dirty book in her hands. The amount of tiles in the ceiling, how many leafs she could see on the tree outside the window. Anything but the book.

But the girl was fighting a losing battle with her curiosity.

Soon she was leaning against his chest, nestled in as they both read, fascinated by the story. It was like being caught on an emotional roller coaster, feeling the sadness, pain, joy and love that was elegantly written on the pages that hid beneath such a perverted cover.

But then there was the arousal, something Sakura definitely didn't want to deal with while she was practically on top of her teacher, his arms around her waist so that they'd be in a more comfortable position.

When the clock finally hit the seven o'clock mark and Sakura's watch chimed, alerting her to the fact that she had the late shift in the hospital that night, she jumped, having been so caught up in the story and the soothing beat of Kakashi's heart.

Sakura looked at her watch and winced, jumping up and slipping a book mark in to mark their page. Then she just stood there awkwardly, staring down at the cold tiled floor since she was unsure of how to proceed.

"You should come back tomorrow," Kakashi said, amusement evident in his tone. "We need to finish the book." Sakura nodded and went to leave, hoping to hide the bag in her locker before anyone asked her what it was and she'd have to admit to everyone that she'd read _Icha Icha _in her teacher's arms.

God.

She moved to leave, mumbling a quick "Bye, Sensei." To him before cracking open the door.

"Oh, and Sakura." She lifted her head. "You don't have to call me Sensei any more. After all, isn't it awkward to have read porn with your teacher?" He teased lightly, watching as her face flamed up and she slammed the door.

Chuckling, he leaned back, trying to pass the time until tomorrow without freedom or hands and a promise to behave.

Maybe this time he'd finally get the damn bandages off.

* * *

You can thank Kathy for this one, because I don't really know where it came from. I guess I was thinking what Kakashi would do if he was unable to read his _Icha Icha_, and Kathy looked at me and said, "You know what, you obviously don't need sleep. Type, Bitch, type." And so, here we are!

God, I'm tired.

Stay sexy! (Yes, I'm talking to _you_, Gorgeous)


	15. What is a name, Multiple pairings

This has all of my couples in it (First time for InoCho!), and is about the baby names.

I used names I had read in manga before and had really liked (except for Kori, which is a name I made up because I liked the way it looked). So this chapter is about how the parents went about figuring out the names.

(Oh, and I was reading the last couple chapters when I remembered where I had read Rin being used. So, since Tenten and Neji know nothing about that girl and didn't even know she had existed, they just liked the name Rin)

* * *

Temari was lounging on the couch reading a book to pass the dragging time when a sudden thought occurred to her, forcing her to lower her book and glare at her husband. "No Shika names." Shikamaru looked up from the paper work that had been forced onto him from work, annoyance clearly written on his face.

"What?"

Temari placed her hand over her rounding stomach, as if protecting the small child that was growing in her. "I don't want it to have a name that start's with 'Shika'."

Shikamaru sighed and would have muttered something about her being a troublesome woman, but with the way her hormones had been spiking he knew to do so would take him down a treacherous path he'd do anything to stay off of. So he swallowed the words and settled for raising his eyes to the ceiling.

"It's tradition, Temari."

She snorted, crossing her arms and stretching out her legs as if she didn't care in the least. "They can get over it." Another sigh from Shikamaru as he gave up on work –though he wasn't _too_ upset about that.

"And why have you decided this?" Temari stared at him as if the answer was glaringly obvious.

"If the kid is Shika-something the name will probably shortened to Shika because it's easier to yell. I call you Shika, and your mother calls your father Shika, and there are God knows how many other Shika-whatevers in your clan. I will not allow for myself or my child to be a part of all of that confusion." Shikamaru sighed and sat at the other end of the couch, watching her carefully.

"Then what are we going to name it?" Temari shrugged. "I don't know, we'll find something." Shikamaru thought for a moment, beginning to idly rub the feet she had callously dropped into his lap.

"I'd like Asuma if it's a boy." Temari tilted back her head and closed her eyes, thinking the name over.

It wasn't a personal favorite of hers but she knew how important Shikamaru's dead teacher was to him, and it wasn't like it was the _worst_ name she had ever heard.

"Sure. But only if you dig a little bit more into the arch. Just. Right. _There_."

* * *

Hinata lay back on the bed, fingers running through Naruto's hair as he pressed his cheek to the large mound of her stomach, a hand gently rubbing soothing circles in the places where the baby kicked. "We still haven't named her." He murmured, trying to listen for the fluttering heartbeat he had heard earlier at the doctor's visit. Hinata continued to read the baby book, smiling gently as she began to twist her fingers in the sunshine colored strands.

"We just haven't found the right one yet."

Naruto stayed silent for a moment, face scrunching up comically as it was prone to do when he gave something serious thought. "I heard from Baa-chan that my parents picked out my name from one of Jiraiya's books. Maybe we could do that."

"Get the name from one of your Sensei's books?" Naruto shifted and raised up to his elbows over her, looking up at her.

"No. Just any character from any book that has the same traits that we want our child to have." Hinata thought back to all of the cute, flowery and sweet names she had been thinking of, and then she thought about how sweet and thoughtful the whole idea was and about how they would be passing on a piece of the grandparents their child would never meet.

"I think that's a wonderful idea." She said, smiling gently at her husband. He grinned at her and leaned down to kiss her stomach, whispering goodnight to their child before sliding up and doing the same to Hinata.

* * *

"No."

"Sakura, I really think that you're being too-"

"No, I'm not Kakashi." She snapped as she jerked the plug out of the sink, allowing the sudsy water to drain and flicking the moisture off of her hands. She turned and started to wipe down the counter, glaring at every speck of filth that dared to mar it.

Kakashi watched her carefully, leaning against the island that separated the kitchen from the living room as his eyes were inevitably dragged to her still flat stomach. His lips drew into a lazy and satisfied smile beneath his mask, content with how everything had settled down. It had been a difficult fight, but it had been worth it to end up with this.

Though Sakura would sorely disagree at the moment.

Slapping the washrag over the edge of the sink, she turned to stomp out of the room and into the living room, tidying up the magazines on the coffee table and the crocheted blanket that was thrown over the back of the couch. Cleaning had become her latest outlet for her frustrations since Kakashi had forbade her from training and had warned off anyone else who she had approached.

Damn overprotective bastard.

"Sakura, they're really very nice. I don't see why-" She slammed her hands down on the coffee table, glaring at Kakashi through the hair that had fallen from her pony-tail. "Kakashi, I'm only going to say this one more time, and you _will_ listen." She walked over and grabbed his shirt, dragging him down a bit so that they were nose to nose.

"We are never, under _any_ circumstances, going to name our child after a character in your porn books!"

* * *

Tenten eased back in the water and into Neji's bare chest, sighing as the hot bath water eased her protesting muscles. She was sore and tired and pregnant, forced to waddle everywhere while she was unable to train. It made her cranky at times -all the time actually- and she just couldn't wait to get the kid out of her. But said kid was refusing vehemently and was holding on tightly inside of her, deciding to be over a week late.

Neji eased his arms around her, lacing his fingers into hers and placing their joined hands over her stomach, feeling their child beneath their hands. "Are you alright?" He murmured, pressing his fingers in slightly as if to search for any potential problems. She nodded her head and then tilted it back on his chest, closing her eyes to just bask in this warmth and comfort.

He pressed a quick kiss on her shoulder, placing his head against hers so that they could just sit there for a little while and try not to worry, though worries came to Hyuuga Neji far too easily these days with his suddenly growing family.

"We still haven't picked out a name."

"Nope."

"We should have had a definite one chosen when it was due."

Tenten sighed, determining that her husband was just trying to destroy her happy glow. "Neji, we don't even know the sex." He was the one who sighed this time.

"Yes, I know, but we can choose a gender neutral name."

Tenten turned her head so that her eyes could meet with his, a calm and sure -almost serene- look in her eyes. "We'll know when we hold it in our arms. It'll speak to us, after all, we're its parents and we'll see it in the baby's eyes. It's always in the eyes."

Deciding to amuse her Neji smiled and tilted his head back, content to just stay there forever.

* * *

"I've found the solution." Ino said, poking into Choji's side to get him to wake up.

"Solution to what?" He grumbled, trying to get back to sleep. Beautiful and loving sleep.

"To what we're going to name our kid!" Ino cried, hitting Choji in the chest lightly as if it were supposed to be obvious.

"Oh?"

Ino nodded, not the slightest bit tired in the face of such a momentous discovery. "Yep. We can't go with the whole clan thing since it will be a huge fight over which on to do first and any way you combine them sounds just stupid. Shikamaru didn't do it anyways, so we'll be fine. I was thinking about flower names at first but then I wanted to add something you like in there, and that's when it hit me," She held up her hands as if to hold off the importance of the moment.

"Fruit." She said, lowering her hands as a huge and proud smile split her face into two. Choji blinked at her.

"Fruit?" She nodded. "Fruit."She confirmed, nearly glowing with her accomplishment.

"It's perfect, right? I mean, the names are cute and all fruit comes from a tree that flowers, and fruit is food! See?" She shoved her earnest face up to his until her eyes nearly threatened to swallow him whole. Choji reached up and smoothed her hair back with one of his large hands.

"Yeah, it's great." He said, ignoring the fact that they had only just found out about the pregnancy the day before.

* * *

Ino and Choji's kids are the only one I looked up the meanings for, and that's because I originally wanted flower names but then switched to fruit when the flower names just didn't fit.

I love you all! So much so that I'd slay a bloodthirsty party dragon for you!


	16. Secret Lover, KakaSaku

The story of how Sakura and Kakashi first got together.

This one get's a little smexy (I kept it teen though, never fear!)

* * *

To say that Sakura was merely drunk would have been an understatement. Saying that she was plastered, however, would be far more accurate. It took a lot to get a medic-nin drunk, their trained bodies naturally fighting off the toxins, but whatever had been in the punch had been really, _really_ good, and had had a whole lot of things a young kunoichi probably shouldn't have been near, let alone drinking.

Sakura was also having quite the hard time remembering _why _she had gone out and drank so much, especially since she was wearing one of her best little black dresses and heels that she skillfully managed to keep her balance in even in her inebriated state.

Punch? A party? It all suddenly rushed back to her that they were throwing Naruto and Hinata a party in honor of their engagement and that Kiba and Ino had brought the dreadfully wonderful punch, the glorious bastards that they were.

Sakura tilted her head back against the wall, trying to get her bearings. She might have been drunk but she had never been a stupid drunk, she was aware of everything around her and though her memory might have been fuzzy and her mind a bit slow she knew what was going on and why. And now that she knew all of that she also knew that it was time for her to go home and get away from the punch before she did something really stupid like drink more of it.

So she went out and into the night, the cold slap of the wind reminding her that she had forgotten her coat inside but also sobering her up enough that the worst of her fears about the threat of stupidity were calmed. She shrugged it off and started down the street and towards her apartment, hoping to get home and take some aspirin before she went to sleep.

But nothing ever seemed to go the way she wanted it to.

Just like she always did when she was in a hurry Sakura cut through the park, shaving off a good ten minutes from the time it took her to get to her apartment, though there was one obstacle that she hadn't anticipated being in her way. An obstacle in the form of a white haired ninja slouched on a park bench. Sakura could have walked on by, ignoring her former teacher in favor of a soft, warm bed, but something made her pause and sit down beside him.

"Yes, Sakura?" He grumbled, keeping his visible eye closed. She shrugged, stretching her arms above her head and making a little sound of satisfaction when her back popped. She leaned back, bending her arms so that she could cross them behind her head, tilting her head back to look up at the glittering sky.

"The stars are always so pretty." She sighed, smiling up at the sky thoughtfully.

Kakashi opened his one eye and rolled it over to look at her, taking in her flushed cheeks and overly bright eyes. "You're drunk." He said and she snorted, irritated that he was trying to be such a downer when she had such a happy little buzz going on.

"Yeah, well you are too, Kakashi-sensei."

"How can you tell? My face is covered, and you weren't watching me during the party so you couldn't have seen me drinking." She snorted and turned to him, bringing her legs up on the bench which in turn caused the hem of her dress to rise up to dangerous levels. Not that she noticed, focused more on the light and fluttery feeling that was filling her.

But the man beside her found that he couldn't focus on anything else.

"It's simple, Sensei. I know you so I can spot the differences between the normal you and any other you." She propped her elbow on the back of the bench, resting her cheek on her fist. He blinked at her slowly, not really sure how to take that statement or the way she was smiling at him in this sort of soft and sweet way with her eyes clear and warm, face flushed with alcohol and the whip of the chilled air.

"Oh?"

"Mhmm."

Something between them started thrumming, a slow and steady beat that had been slowly building between them for what seemed like years. Kakashi shifted, turning to face Sakura, to look her right in the eye.

"Have you been watching me, Sakura?" His voice deepened, becoming rougher and making everything inside of Sakura tighten and brace for what was sure to come. "Why have you been watching me, Sakura?"

She smiled and tilted her head, emboldened by the alcohol and the tiny little thrill she got whenever he spoke. "You know, Kakashi, I could ask the same of you."

Then they both leaned in, cloth covered lips meeting lips. It was a simple and chaste kiss, one that tentatively searched the other for the recognition needed to continue on with the course the night so desperately wanted to take. They pulled back and looked into each other and found exactly what they were searching for.

Kakashi pulled down his mask with a short sound of frustration, meeting Sakura's lips with his once more in a kiss that stole all thought and reason. One of his hands went into her hair, gripping tightly and pulling so that her head tilted back and allowed him more room to plunder. They moaned together when their tongues met and tangled, overcome by the desire that was rocking them.

Sakura slipped her leg over his lap so that she was straddling him, pressing against him and crying out into his mouth as they began to move against each other, needy and wanting. Kakashi tore his mouth from hers and ignored her whimper for him to come back, scraping his teeth down to column of her throat and making her gasp, forcing her arms to tighten around his neck. A hand came up to the back of his head and into his hair, gripping tightly as the arousal rolled through her in waves, eyes rolling back at the feeling of his gloved hands traveling up her bare back in search of the halter tie for the dress.

He deftly untied it, the ties falling down and slipping over her shoulders, the barest whisper of cloth sliding against skin the only thing breaking the music that their pants and gasps made. The top of the dress slipped down and pooled around her waist, the sudden lash of the cold night air and the coarse feeling of Kakashi's gloves against her bare breasts making her cry out.

And though the seduction -the pure unadulterated heat- of the moment had nearly melted any rationality Sakura had ever possessed, there was still one sliver that thankfully and stubbornly held on. "Stop." She groaned out, eyes fluttering at the feelings he was pulling out of her. "Stop, Kakashi."

He leaned back just the slightest bit, his eye burning with need and flashing with annoyance. But also acceptance, as if he had known from the beginning that she would tell him to stop. Sakura picked the bodice of her dress up, holding it to her chest with one arm while she braced her other hand on Kakashi's shoulder to keep her balance and hold him in place.

"We can't... We can't do this." She panted. She watched as Kakashi slowly began to stomp out the desire that lit his eye, trying to pull apart his emotions and let her go. Sakura would have at any other time found such an ability to be impressive, though at the moment she couldn't because she was just too goddamned horny.

"Not in the park, Kakashi. I won't be able to hold it all in." The light began to kindle once again. "I think that your place is closer than-" She was cut off when he suddenly stood, gasping as he threw her over his shoulder and jumped up into the trees, racing as fast as he ever had to get to his apartment.

Sakura kept her one arm holding her dress to her -not wanting to flash any hapless passerby- and used the other hand to grip the back of his shirt to try and keep from bouncing so much. Glaring over her shoulder at the back of his head she pinched his butt in revenge for the way he was manhandling her -no matter how breathless it was making her.

Lips twitching at the childish action, he reached up and swatted her butt.

Sakura blinked. He hadn't just... Had he? Oh yes, he had.

And she damned herself for finding it so undeniably sexy.

They reached his apartment building within minutes and were in his apartment through his window in a handful of moments. He strode, determined and confident, into his bedroom and dropped her unceremoniously onto his bed, making her bounce and reach her arms out to steady herself. The loss of the restraint of her arms caused the top of her dress to once again fall to her waist, and from the way the damned bastard's lips twitched he had planned it.

Sakura shoved some stray strands of hair out of her face and huffed, not bothering to try and cover her naked breasts. It wasn't like she was embarrassed by them, not with the alcohol that flowed through her system throwing away all of her inhibitions.

"You spanked me." She accused, watching as he tossed off his forehead protector and gloves, licking her lips in anticipation for what was to come.

"Yes." He smirked and went to her, caging her in and making her shiver. "And I'm about to do it again."

* * *

Sakura awoke excruciatingly slowly as she always did when she was sick or hungover, wincing as the sun managed to still be so bright even through the shield of her eyelids, hissing at the screeching of some stupidly cheerful morning bird. She rolled over into the solid body of the man she had slept next to and paused.

The memories of the night before didn't come in a wave or in flashes, they were just there and she found that she felt none of the mortification or horror most people in her place would have felt, though she was a bit embarrassed. She slowly cracked her eyes open and ignored the throb of pain the light sent straight to her brain in favor of looking up and into Kakashi's face.

He was staring up at the ceiling, arms crossed under his head as he contemplated their situation and tried to ignore her without being too obvious. He failed, but Sakura couldn't really find it in her to care at the moment. She shoved off of him and leaned over the side of the bed, grabbing her dress from the floor and slipping it on before getting up and making her shaky way to the bathroom.

She used the necessary facilities and filled a glass with water, gulping it down to soothe her painfully dry throat and sat down on the edge of the bath tub, taking a breath to try and compose herself.

There was a list of things that needed to be taken care of already forming in her mind, and the first and foremost object of importance was getting past the damn hangover -though she admitted that after dealing with the after effects of different poisons during training over the years she knew that she could easily move past it and go back out there without using her medical skills. But dealing with the situation with a headache and a hangover sounded like a hell of a hassle compared to dealing with everything without it.

So she brought her hands to her temples, shooting pulses of cool and soothing chakra into her head to sooth the pain, forging a path down her body as she took care of overworked muscles and her upset stomach. Within minutes she was feeling infinitely better and ready to face what was waiting for her on the other side of the door.

He was still lying on the bed in the same position as he had been when she had first woken up, though when she sat down on the bed next to him his eye flickered over to her. "Sakura, I-" She ignored him and put her hands at his temples and began the same process she had done on herself.

"Listen, I need you to know a few things. One is that I knew exactly what I was doing last night and I remember it all. I'm a happy, less uptight kind of drunk, not a stupid one, and I'm guessing you had control last night too, so we don't need to worry about that."

"I wasn't a virgin, so go ahead wipe that thought out of your mind since I know you're probably worrying about it, and everything was entirely consensual." She smiled a small smile when he audibly sighed in relief. "We used protection, so we're good on that front, and neither of us were stupid with each other. But also I want you to know that I wouldn't have done any of that -ever- without the alcohol. I value the relationship we have too much to ever jeopardize it like that, and this goes hand in hand with what I'm about to say next,"

She pulled her hands away from him. "We can't be expected to just ignore it and pretend like it didn't happen. That's stupid. But we can move past it and just go on like usual, though I guess some things will have to change." Kakashi nodded, watching her face as he did so.

She gave him a small smile and got up, stooping down to grab her heels from where they had been kicked off before making her way to the door. "I guess I'll see you at training, Kakashi!" She called back, not looking to see if he had nodded or done anything other than stare at her retreating back.

* * *

Sakura banged her head against her little kitchen table repeatedly, muttering to herself, "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid." Over and over again.

_Why_ had she slept with -of all people- Kakashi! It was like the universe had just bitch slapped her or something. It was unbelievable! She had been able to act calm and collected when she had been at his apartment by calling on her little inner Ino -supreme queen of the one night stand- to take care of the situation with the sophistication and maturity that Sakura herself didn't possess. And it had gone wonderfully, the facade only crumbling when she had gotten back to the safety and security of her apartment.

Sakura leaned back in the chair and brought her wrist up to her nose, sniffing and filling herself with the scent of Kakashi.

She had taken an hour long shower, desperate to scrub off every reminder of the night so that no one would be able to tell. But no matter how hard or long she had scrubbed it seemed as if Kakashi's very essence had soaked into her skin, making her core quiver with every breath she took.

It was ridiculous, really. She had gotten rid of the soreness, the hickeys and bruises that he had marked her with, and yet she still felt as if he had implanted some unknown and unforgettable part of him in her.

She took a deep breath in through her mouth, trying to ignore the way her skin was still tender where he had touched her last night and vowed that she would act like there was nothing wrong.

Though it would have to be after she baked through her frustrations.

* * *

Sakura bent over, panting and sweating as she looked over at her grinning opponent. "Yeah yeah, go ahead and gloat. See if I heal you the next time you're lying in a ditch bleeding to death."

"Kurama helps me heal, and I've never been bleeding in a ditch before." Naruto gloated.

Sakura cracked her knuckles and grumbled menacingly to herself, "Yeah? Well there's a first time for everything." And launched herself back at the blonde haired boy.

She made her way over to the tree stump she had put all of her stuff on so that it wouldn't get in her way during the training she and the rest of team seven did together to keep in touch.

She pulled out her water bottle and one of her Tupperware bowls, opening it and offering it to Naruto and Sai -who had been drawing his two friends as they had trained. "Want some? I went on a baking binge yesterday, and if I eat them all I'll get fat." Sai and Naruto each took one of the shortbread cookies, though Sai couldn't resist adding that her growing fat would manage to hide her ugliness.

She was just about to hit him with furious chakra filled punch when there was a rustle of leaves behind them. Sakura turned, tugging her little Ino shield around her as quickly and smoothly as possible.

"Yo."

Sakura rolled her eyes at her ex-teacher, not even bothering to pretend to be upset. "What, did you get lost on the path of life again?" She asked sarcastically. His eye crinkled and he walked to the group evenly, not even a hint of anything else showing.

"Actually, there was this lost child who..." Sakura nearly sighed in relief at his ridiculous excuse.

Normal. They could be normal.

* * *

Sakura was lying on her couch reading a mystery novel when a heavy handed knock came from her door. She marked the place in her book and got up, confused as to who it could be since almost everyone at the moment was gone on a mission. Opening the door, she stared in shock. "Yo." Kakashi said weakly, holding his profusely bleeding side with one arm while the other was over Naruto's shoulder to keep him from falling over. Sakura quickly ushered the two in.

"What happened?" She gasped, leading the pair over to the kitchen table so that they could sit down.

"Well," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head as he thought back. "We were coming in from our mission when we were ambushed by some rouge ninjas. I didn't get hurt that badly by the group I was fighting against, but apparently the group Kakashi was fighting against had a lot of poison with them. We would have gone to the hospital but you know how he feels about those." Sakura paused and then started working on overdrive, demanding to know everything about what they had seen from the poisons and about how Kakashi was feeling.

It took a couple of hours and she was exhausted by the time she was done, each of the individual poisons out of Kakashi's body and his wounds healed. Naruto had left after the first hour, wanting to go to his fiance and see if she would kiss his wounds better for him.

Sakura slumped on the couch with the man that her thoughts had been focused on the past weeks, both of them succumbing easily to the seduction of sleep.

Never one to really dream, it seemed like Sakura had only been asleep for mere minutes before she was awake once more, blinking blearily at the man who was still asleep beside her. She got up quietly and moved to the kitchen to grab an energy bar to eat, munching on it as she contemplated what to fix for dinner since it seemed that she would have a guest. A guest that she had seen naked before and wanted to see naked again.

She took a breath to try and shut down those thoughts and was about to reach into the fridge when the door was pushed shut. She looked up and into Kakashi's determined eye, watching as he pulled his mask down. "Kakash-" She gasped, cut off by the hard press of his lips on hers. She immediately reacted, gripping his hair in her fists as he lifted her up to the counter, her legs coming up to wrap around him with her ankles crossing at the small of his back.

They struggled furiously to get their clothes off, both of them ignoring the sound of tearing cloth in favor of focusing on the heated tangle of their tongues and the electrifying friction of skin against skin.

Kakashi slipped Sakura off of the counter and held her up by holding her thighs in his hard grip, her legs staying wrapped around him like a vise. "Sakura, where's your bedroom?" Sakura ignored him in favor of attacking the skin where his throat met his shoulder, nearly moaning as the salty taste of _him_ filled her entire being. Kakashi tilted his head back and closed his eyes, breathing hard as he tried to keep some semblance of control until he could get her to a bed. "Sakura -damn it- tell me where your room is or else I'll just fuck you against the wall."

Sakura couldn't really see what would be all that bad about that but she decided to humor him, wanting more than anything at that moment to just feel him inside of her again. "First door on your right." She hissed, feeling as if she were about to explode if he didn't hurry up. He was there in record setting time, dropping down on the bed and tearing the rest of their clothes off so that they could finally -finally- get the release they had been wanting for weeks.

It was hard, hot and furious, a battle to the very end. When they were done Kakashi rolled over, taking Sakura with him so that she lay limply on his chest. Both of them were fighting to catch their breath, their heated skin quickly cooling and the sweat that lay thick on the both of them rapidly becoming uncomfortable.

After a few dragging moments of silence Sakura sighed and tilted her head so that she could look up at Kakashi. "We did it again."

"Hmm?"

"Sex, Kakashi. This is the second time." He chuckled at looked down at the little pink haired girl.

"Your math must be off, because I counted a few more than two times." Sakura looked sternly up at him but couldn't stop her lips from twitching.

"Not like that, you pervert. I just meant that... well... this wasn't supposed to happen." Kakashi arched an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"We said it wasn't going to."

"I don't remember saying anything of the sort." She paused, looking up at him confused.

"Wait, are you saying that you _wanted _to sleep together again?" She paused and took in the look on his face. "You... You... You!" She hissed, smacking his chest as hard as she could without her chakra. "Why didn't you say something? Do you know how wrong this is? I mean, you're my ex-teacher and you're also a lot older than me. How do you think this is going to work out, huh?"

He shrugged and bent one of his arms behind his head to act as a pillow, "We'll act like we always act, only this time there will be sex involved." Sakura looked up at him, turning the proposal over in her head.

"So... we'll be lovers." Truth be told she kind of liked the idea, though there was one more thing.

"We can't tell any of the others, let alone Naruto. I don't really know how he'll react to all of this." Kakashi nodded and closed his eye, leaving Sakura to her whimsical thoughts about how this would work out.

She had never been someone's secret lover before. It might be fun.

* * *

So, once again the credit goes partially to Kathy. This took a turn from what I had originally planned and ended up like this.

I also thought briefly about doing some M Fics of my couples, but then I'd have to change the rating and I don't really feel like it.

But maybe one day.

I love you all! You're great! Rock those sassy pants!


	17. Sanity in a Name, ShikaTema

Okay, I've been promising to tell you what happened to Temari since the second chapter, so here it is!

Maybe I shouldn't sound so happy...

* * *

"Really, Temari, isn't it a bit too soon? Asuma is only two. Your leaving like this will confuse him and make him fussy and probably more dependent on you when you come back."

Temari rolled her eyes as she finished fastening her shoes on, glancing up at her friend with a bland look on her face. "Listen Sakura, I'm a ninja. I need to do ninja things which means that I need to take missions or else I'll die from the boredom of home life. I was cleared for duty and it's such a simply pansy mission that I'll be back in less than a week. The kids will be fine, I'll be fine, we'll all be fine." Sakura sighed but nodded her head, knowing that her older friend wasn't exactly suited for being a housewife and had been going stir crazy the past few months.

Temari slung her bag over her shoulder and went down the steps and into the family room, interrupting the game that her's and Sakura's kids were playing. Kyoko, taking in the way her mother was dressed and the bag slung over her shoulder, ran over and threw her arms around her waist, wanting desperately to ask her to stay but knowing she couldn't. After all, she was a ninja's child and tearful pleas were given no room in this life.

Temari shoved aside the clutching in her stomach that came at the thought of leaving her babies for any amount of time -no matter if her sanity demanded it- and cupped her five year old's face. "Hey now, I'll be back soon. Just in time for your birthday and for your admission ceremony to the academy. So stop with the pouting, okay?" The little black haired girl nodded her head determinedly. Her father went off on missions and he always came back fine, so even if her mom left she was sure to come back.

She had said so, after all.

Asuma toddled over to her and gripped her leg, looking up at his mother with wide questioning eyes, his wheat blonde hair that he had gotten from her falling around his face. "Mama go?" Temari crouched down and smiled at her son cockily.

"Yep, and I'll bring my favorite boy a present back, how does that sound?" He nodded slowly, liking the idea of being her favorite and getting a present.

She smiled at her kids and hid the sudden anxiety that filled her at the thought of leaving them. "Okay, give me a kiss you two." She said and they quickly did, Asuma's slobbery one leaving a smear of saliva on her cheek. She stood up and turned to her husband who had been sitting in an arm chair to watch the kids, cocking her hip as she smirked at him. "I guess you want a kiss too, huh?" She said as she sauntered over to him.

She leaned over him and they met for a brief and warm kiss, only breaking away so that they could whisper without the kids hearing. "Take care of yourselves for me, will you?"

"Same to you."

She nodded the tiniest bit before she stood up and went to the door, picking up her large fan and strapping it to her back, only looking back to give her family a grin and a wave before she turned and left, closing the door behind her with a distinctive click.

* * *

Temari blinked at the darkness surrounding her, hissing as her body throbbed and ached with every thought she dared to think. There were heavy weights at her wrists -shackles- and a tugging sensation coming from them that she could feel throughout her body, weakening her and leaving her vulnerable.

Chakra. They were taking her chakra.

How had this happened? How had she gotten here? The mission had been going just fine; after all, it had been just a stupid low level assassination and package retrieval when... When?

_There were so many of them. Dozens, hundreds, thousands, she didn't know. They surrounded them, their blank forehead protectors proclaiming them to belong to no village, the lack of ties proclaiming them to be that much more dangerous. Temari had her fan fully unfurled, furiously beating off her attackers, her chakra and strength quickly depleting._

An attack. They'd been attacked by an unknown enemy.

_Her teammate, Jin, cried out, his face contorting in pain as one of the enemy stabbed him right through his stomach, two more quickly stabbing him in his heart and throat. Temari cried out in fury, flicking her fan to get them away from the man, turning her back for the barest second._

Jin had barely been more than a boy, his face still soft as his childhood hung onto him tightly. The poor thing. Temari could almost see it as Asuma who had fallen before her, his sweet little face contorted with pain and fear, tears running down his cheeks.

How would Jin's real mother deal with it?

_She was out of chakra and out of hope, desperately fighting of the enemy and trying to stay alive. She had promised that she would come back. She had promised that she wouldn't be late._

_Something pricked the back of her neck and she felt the darkness consuming her, and the last thing she saw was her family standing in the doorway as she waved goodbye, already waiting for her return._

Temari bit her lip to hold back her sob, a strangled whimper coming out instead. Her family, her home, everything. She had left it all behind and now she was paying the price.

"Hello? Newbie? You there?" Temari blinked at the strangled and high pitched voice that came from the darkness.

"Yes, hello? Who's there?" All that came was a chuckle.

"Ah, I was wondering when they'd bring in a new one since they killed the old one. A girl, from the sounds of it. And don't worry doll, you're not dead. Though you'll soon be wishing you were." The strange man started to cackle and giggle crazily, striking a small shaft of fear into Temari's heart.

"I... Where are we?"

"Where? Why, we're in in the darkest part of the world, where the sun never shines and the gods never smile. Where demons walk in the form of men and the ghosts cry out in agony. Where soon the only thing you'll know is pain, even your own name will disappear from your mind." He giggled again.

"We're in hell."

Temari felt so many things at that moment, but the first and foremost was anger. How dare they take her away from her family and expect her to meekly stay chained in some cell with a mad man and darkness as her only company. She would fight, no matter how long it took she would fight and find a way to get back to her family.

"Temari."

"Hmm?"

"My name is Nara Temari. I will _not _forget."

The silence that surrounded her was even more off putting than the man's psychotic giggles.

"I wish you luck." Was the sad, almost defeated and sympathetic reply that came from the hidden man.

* * *

Temari was thrown back into the room, her body screaming in protest as it hit the unforgiving stone floor of her cell. The door closed, taking with it all light and hope, leaving the cell's occupants to the all-consuming darkness. Temari didn't even bother to move, her body screaming from the experiment they had just done. They had sent waves of electricity into her body in short jolts, wanting to see how long it took until it became unbearable for her.

Thirteen rounds. Thirteen before she finally blacked out, and then maybe more after that.

The smell of burnt flesh and hair was quickly filling their little cell, reminding her of brimstone and ashes, of the hell that she was trapped in and had been stuck in for who knew how long.

Weeks? Months? Years?

Closing her eyes she kept the tears away by sheer force of will and began with her mantra, the only thing that kept her sane in this new and cruel world.

_Temari. My name is Temari. Temari. My name is Temari. Temari._

_My name is Temari._

* * *

Please! Don't kill me! Kathy did it, take her!

Actually, this one was all me. _Sorry Kathy_. (except for Jin. Kathy wanted him)

I meant to put all of the Temari story in here, but then I thought, "Nah, I'll add some more bits about Shikamaru and the kids before that." So you'll have to wait.

Sorry.

You guys believe me when I say I love you, right?


	18. Regrets, ShikaTema

Regrets? He has them. He has hundreds of them.

He regrets that he is unable to be a better father to his children, unable to be everything they want and need. He is only a single man in a difficult world leading a difficult life, having to suddenly and solely cope with two small children. He is sorry for what he lacks, and regrets that he does not have strong enough hands to fix it all.

He regrets that -no matter how intelligent he is- he isn't smart. He regrets not knowing the answers to the questions their innocent eyes ask, not knowing the _whys_ the _hows_ and the _wheres_. He is sorry that he is not the all-knowing and nearly god-like man they believe him to be, and he regrets their disappointment.

He regrets not being able to love her like she loves him. He hates using her for his children, and hurting her so much. He despises the questioning and searching looks she sends towards him and he detests that she is so happy to settle for a man who is as broken as he is, a man who still desperately holds onto a woman he will never see again. He is disgusted with the way he thinks of another when she is beside him at times, and he regrets that he is so happy with her despite of all of this.

He regrets the way he leads his children into the life that destroyed their family and he regrets the way they love it. He knows how this life will destroy parts of them and what they love and he knows that this life will give them wounds that no one will ever be able to heal. He regrets that he cannot shield them and he regrets that one day he will have to see them carry the same scars he has.

He regrets that his hands are hard when it comes time for them to wish for something softer. He regrets the clumsiness that possesses him when they cry, and the fear that befalls him when they stumble. He regrets that the strength they see is not the one he possesses, and he regrets that they will want for more.

He regrets ever knowing her. He hates going to sleep and knowing he will dream of her and how she so carelessly left him. He regrets that he still knows her touch, that he still wishes that it were her hands instead of another's. He regrets needing her and he hates wanting her, though he detests wishing for her most of all.

But what he regrets the most is that when she turned to leave him he didn't reach out to stop her.

What he regrets most is letting her go.

* * *

Regrets? She has them. She has hundreds of them.

She regrets that she was not a better mother to her children. She regrets not being what they wanted or what they needed, and she regrets not being there when they wish for her. She regrets the tears she misses, the fights that will continue without her, and she regrets that she is who she is and not what she could have been.

She regrets the life she lives, the one that broke them apart so callously. She regrets how she threw what she loved away for something she thought she foolishly needed, and she hates how, looking back, she knows she couldn't have ever thought of taking another course of action. She regrets that they may follow in her footsteps, and she regrets the pride she will never get to feel.

She regrets that she left, leaving them all behind. Leaving the only man she had ever loved and the two lights off her life all alone to pick up the pieces. She regrets that they will forget her laugh or her smile, frozen pictures the only reminder of the woman who so desperately wants to come home. She hates that there might not even be a home to go to if she ever got out and found that they had moved on to someone else, and she regrets the resentment she would feel towards them for moving on.

She regrets not being better, not being the wife or mother that they truly deserved. She hates looking back and finding fault with everything she ever did, and she regrets not being able to ever go to them and fix it all.

She regrets that she does not know the time or the day. She despises knowing that the world passes on without her in it, everything so easily forgoing her existence. She hates not knowing which birthday has passed or when her anniversary has finally come around, and she regrets not being there to celebrate with them.

She regrets her faults and her misgivings. She regrets that her little angels, the lights of her life, may one day find out about the darkness that surrounds her. She knows that it will hurt them, hopes that it won't consume them, and regrets that she can't be there to kiss away her pains.

But what she regrets the most is that when she left she didn't even pause at the doorway, didn't stop to say anything to them before she left them forever.

What she regrets most is not telling them that she loved them.


	19. Dance for Me, NaruHina

A warning for my little prudes out there: There is some smexiness going on here.

* * *

"Naruto-kun... I-I... I'm not really sure..." Hinata stuttered, playing with her fingers nervously as she glanced from her boyfriend to the pond he had brought her to. "But Hinata, you promised!" Naruto whined, pouting playfully at the embarrassed girl.

"I-I know... b-but it's so embarrassing! P-Please, can't I do something else for your birthday present?" She asked desperately. Naruto grinned and shook his head, sitting down on the ground and crossing his legs Indian style.

"Nope. You said anything I want, and I want this." Seeing the indecision and nervousness on her face, Naruto gave her one last shove."Please Hina-chan? For me?" Hinata closed her eyes.

"Fine. B-But you have to turn around until I'm ready." She warned, feeling light headed about what she was about to do.

When Hinata had confessed to being the girl he had seen dancing on the water that night all those years ago, the little light in his eyes should have warned her that something was going on. But instead she had gone on with her deliriously happy life, juggling her almost two year relationship with him, her ninja duties, and her family skillfully. Of course that all came crashing to a halt when she had asked Naruto what he wanted for his birthday and he had told her that he wanted to see her... dance again. And no matter how many times she asked him -begged him really- he had refused to change his mind. So here she was.

She literally held her breath as she took off her clothes, leaving herself only in a tight black tank top and boyshort panties. It might not have been completely naked but it was far more skin than she was used to showing even on the rare occasions she went swimming. She took a trembling breath that seemed more like a desperate gasp and walked gently onto the water, pushing the chakra out through her bare feet.

"Okay." She whispered, keeping her eyes down and focused on the ripply reflection of herself on the water rather than what she dearly hoped wasn't a disappointed look on his face. She took a deep breath and started going through the graceful steps slowly at first, unsure of what he wanted to see her do, but then with growing confidence as she flowed into the moves she had been doing since childhood.

When she was finally done she slowly walked back to the grass, focusing on each step as if they would be her last -and if she saw even the slightest bit of disappointment on Naruto's face they very well could be. When her feet finally touched the ground she released her chakra and looked up at Naruto through her bangs, hoping for the best.

He had propped his elbows on his knees and had laced his fingers together, resting his chin on them so that he could watch her with an intensity many people believed he didn't possess. Hinata's breath caught at how heated his eyes were and at how they were solely focused on her. She swallowed, unsure of what to do next.

Steps slow and even, Hinata went to Naruto, the sheer molten intensity of his eyes beckoning her over. When she was standing right before him she swallowed and whispered, "D-Did you like your present, Naruto-kun?"

His hand shot out and yanked her down so that she was sitting sideways in his lap. She opened her mouth to gasp but it was caught and swallowed by Naruto's lips.

They had kissed before, obviously, and had gone a bit farther than kissing and into petting, but Hinata had never seen Naruto look like he looked right now and Hinata had never worn so few clothes or felt so deliciously vulnerable and wanted.

The kiss was hotter than any other kiss they had shared before, a sensual burning of lust and need. His calloused hands ran up her back, dragging her tank top up and zeroing in on the snap of her bra. She gasped when she felt it give after a few moments of him struggling with it, but she was quickly distracted by the sudden and interesting way he was using his tongue in the kiss.

She shivered when he slipped her shirt off over her head, her arms raising up to help him get the troublesome article off, eyelashes fluttering when he lightly scraped his teeth over the telltale rapid beating of her pulse at her throat. But those eyes popped wide open and those arms snapped down to cross over her chest when she felt Naruto beginning to tug her bra off.

Naruto frowned and tugged at the bra again, "Hinata." He growled, but the girl just closed her eyes and shook her head, tilting her flushed face down and keeping her stubborn hold on the bra as she tried to keep herself covered. "Hinata. Let go." She shook her head again.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"B-Because," She stuttered, tears threatening at the corners of her eyes. "You l-like sm-smaller ones." There was a single beat of silence before Naruto threw his head back and roared with laughter.

Blushing profusely Hinata tried to get up from Naruto's lap but he stopped her, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her. "You," He gasped, "Are just too cute!"

Hinata blushed and tried to figure out why he was saying such things. "N-Naruto?" He leaned back, keeping his hold on Hinata as he did so, and grinned at her.

"Who on earth told you that?" Hinata looked down at the ground, trying to focus on the individual blades of grass instead of how embarrassing it was to be sitting half naked in Naruto's lap.

"W-Well, I-I thought that since y-you used to like Sakura..." Naruto nodded, catching on surprisingly fast.

"That since I liked Sakura I like smaller boobs. But Hina-chan, that was just a childhood crush that had nothing to do with her chest. I _love_ you."

"O-Oh?" She said, getting the same little tingle she got whenever he said those words to her.

"Yep," He said, nodding. "I don't just like you for your boobs either. They're just like this really, _really_ great bonus that comes with getting you." Hinata blushed and looked up at him hesitantly, still not all the way sure.

"I-I just d-don't want to disappoint y-you." He looked at her seriously now, though he couldn't get rid of all of the lust that was in his eyes.

"You could never, _ever_ disappoint me."

Slowly she uncrossed her arms and let him slip her bra off, though since she found herself unable to look down at herself or him at the moment she was stuck just looking up at the bark of a tree.

She jumped when he first touched them, surprised at the sudden contact on her bare skin. His hands were rough from years of training and working to better himself but they felt surprisingly good, sending little heated thrills into her core. She gasped and moaned as he played, the tree eventually fading away until she couldn't see anything but the wonderful colors he seemed to be painting on the inside of her eyelids.

Eventually she found herself gripping his shirt tightly in her fists with her head tilted back, pleasure rolling through her in gentle and warm waves that made her tremble and want to beg for more.

Her eyes fluttered open when he pressed a kiss to the little mole that rested just above her right breast, "You're beautiful." He whispered, looking at her through half lidded eyes that seemed to _worship_ her. Her breath caught and she wrapped her arms around his neck, brushing a kiss over his lips, feeling like if he said it it had to be true.

"So are you." She whispered.

* * *

No, they do not have sex after this. They just play around for a bit more. That's it.

I see these two as the couple that would wait a bit longer for the sex (Not until marriage, but just until they are both absolutely comfortable with it *_cough_ Hinata _cough_*).

Just joking! It's a mutual decision, and I also don't really see Naruto as someone who would push or put a lot of importance on sex (at least until he actually has it), but he does push at times like this when he gets a little frustrated.

Sorry if you think I made Naruto a bit to pushy, but for this to work Hinata had to dance, and there's no way she would have done it without the pushing. Though she did talk him down from her doing it naked again.

Kisses my darlings!


	20. Okay, InoCho

Ino leaned against the railing of the little roof and sighed, looking out over Konoha with a forlorn expression. The night was beautiful, the moon full and the stars sparkling. It all just looked so perfect.

She wished that it was.

"What, no hot date tonight?" Asked a familiar and warm voice off to her side. Ino smiled wistfully up at the sky as Choji joined her.

"You have to have someone to go on a date." Choji crossed his arms and leaned against the rail with her, looking up at the sky with her.

"No Kiba?" He asked, and she shook her head.

"Nope. That was just some mutual fun until I figured out that I needed a bit more than just fun, something serious. We were stuck in a rut anyways." Choji ignored the little shout of joy that sounded in his heart and instead focused on the girl beside him, the object of his affections and dear friend.

"Oh." She nodded and turned so her butt was resting against the railing, staring off into a distant thought only she could see.

"I've always been that girl who was just the fun one, you know? Sakura was the one you wouldn't mind dating, Hinata was the death-do-us-part kind of girl, and Temari... Well you have to be Shikamaru to want to touch _that _and expect to come out of it alive. But then here I am, the one that's good for a little fun and a good bang until you move on to something better. But now... I want to be one of the others. I don't want to be the fun one, I want to be the one you date or take home to mom." She turned her head towards Choji and looked at him with a straightforward and direct gaze that battled so drastically with her usual carefree and sassy attitude.

"Why can't I be that girl, Choji?" Choji met her gaze directly.

"You can be." He said, believing it completely. She was a great girl, one he loved and cared for like he did no other, a special person and a special friend. She smiled at him and then went back to looking into the nothingness.

"Everyone's settling down. Naruto and Hinata, Tenten and Neji, Shikamaru and Temari. Hell! Even Sakura and Kakashi! And all of them have kids. They're so happy in their sweet little family bliss bubbles, and then there's me. I'm on the outside, Choji, and it's lonely there."

Choji opened his mouth to say something but she waved him away. "And pretty soon you'll meet some nice girl -don't tell me you won't- and I'll just be... here. I'm stuck in this awful little rut and I don't know how to get out." She tilted her head back and blinked away the tears that were filling her eyes. "It's pathetic. _I'm_ pathetic."

"No. You're not." She turned her head towards him and waited, watching him.

"You're smart and caring and energetic. You never give up on us and you see the best in people and try and hold them up even if they don't do the same for you. You're funny and have a great laugh, and you try and make a joke out of everything just to make other people smile. You've never quit when we needed you, and you're always ready to drop everything and sacrifice it all when we call on you." He paused for a moment, trying to think of something else and finally added, "And you're hot."

Ino laughed a watery and thankful laugh. She pushed off of the railing and turned to Choji, lifting up on her tip-toes to press a kiss on his cheek.

"Thanks, Choji. I can always count on you." And she leaned back just enough to smile up at him. She didn't know if it was the moon or the stars, or even if it was how he had soothingly lifted such an overpowering weight off of her chest, but suddenly she found herself leaning forward and brushing her lips against his. They stayed like that for the barest moment before Ino jerked back, her eyes wide.

"I... I'm... sorry."

"Ino." Choji said, reaching out to catch her, but she jumped back shaking her head.

"Sorry! Just... Sorry." She said, backing away and then leaping from the roof and racing away. Choji watched as she left and shook his head, sighing and leaning back against the railing.

"Stupid girl." He muttered.

* * *

"I just... don't know how it happened... Really! I mean, how stupid can I be?" She asked the pink haired woman who was sitting at the kitchen table listening to her.

"Very," She supplied, causing the blonde to turn and glare at her. Sakura merely laughed at the look, in no way intimidated. "Really Ino, you haven't even told me what happened."

"Well, you see-"

"Mama! Look what I did!" The little three year old cried as she dashed into the room, holding up a scribbled drawing proudly. Sakura gasped and took the paper from her daughter.

"Why, it's beautiful! Such the little artist!" She said, picking up the girl and placing her on her lap, smoothing down her white hair as the girl grinned at her mother proudly. Ino took in the happy little family picture and sighed. She wanted something like that _so_ badly.

"I kissed Choji." She muttered, crossing her arms on the table and resting her head on them so that she was speaking into the wood. Sakura paused and smiled brightly down at her daughter.

"Karin honey, why don't you go make another picture for your Aunt Ino." She suggested brightly. The girl's face lit up at the prospect of making another picture and she nodded, slipping off of her mother's lap.

"Okay!" She cried out, dashing out to the living room where she had all of her drawing supplies set up.

Sakura kept the bright smile on her face until her daughter stepped out of the kitchen, then she turned to her best friend with a serious expression and a fire in her eyes. "Details." She demanded. "Now."

And so Ino explained it all, her voice muffled from the table. Sakura nodded when she was done. "Well, I guess it was about time."

"What does that mean?"

"That I expected for you and Choji to get together a long time ago."

"Oh?"

"Yep. It was obvious that you and Kiba weren't going to last, and I'm surprised that you two went on as long as you did." Ino sighed.

"The sex was really good." She turned her head slightly so that she could peek up at Sakura. "But that doesn't explain why you think it's _'about time'_ for me and Choji to get together." Sakura shrugged.

"Because. And," She said, holding up a hand before Ino could protest. "I'm not going to elaborate on that. Yet. Talk to Choji, figure stuff out, and then come back here and give me an update." Ino nodded and got up, stopped by a determined and excited three year old.

"Aunt Ino! Here!" She cried, holding up her latest drawing and present. Ino took the present and gasped theatrically, taking in the squiggles and lines that she supposed were two stick figures.

"Why, it's great Karin-chan! I love it!" The girl nodded.

"I drew you and uncle Choji kissin'!" She declared proudly, causing Sakura to be thrown into a fit of uncontrollable laughter and making Ino blush.

"Good job kid." She finally choked out.

* * *

Ino looked towards her door as if it were some indescribably disgusting and vile monster, hoping that what she had just heard had been something she had imagined and not real. She didn't know what she'd do if it were real. Hide maybe?

The doorbell rang again, denying her any delusions or dreams of escape.

She took a breath and grabbed the doorknob, bracing herself for who she knew was on the other side of the door. She opened it and gestured for him to come in, playing with the tie to her short silk kimono robe, not wanting to meet his eyes at the moment.

"Ino," She jumped when he said her name, her eyes shifting guiltily to look at him.

"Yes Choji?"

"We need to talk." She nodded and gestured for him to take a seat on the couch. She tugged the towel off of her head, damp blonde tangles falling around her body and ending just below her butt. Ino twisted the towel in her hands as she began to pace back and forth in front of her friend, unsure of what to say or do now that he was here.

"I don't know why I kissed you. Maybe it was the mood I was in or how nice you were being or maybe it was because of the full moon. I don't know, but I do know I never thought about kissing you before. I mean, you're sort of like my brother! It's like kissing Shikamaru, which is gross and weird -not that that kiss was gross and weird! It wasn't! It was nice and sweet and... tasted like potato chips, which wasn't actually all that bad. I'm not really saying this like I'm supposed to, am I? I mean, I was planning this all out in my head but it really isn't coming out the way I want it to. But I guess the point is that I've never thought about kissing you before, though now that's the only thing I can think about. Which is weird because you're supposed to be like my brother and if I thought of you like I was supposed to this would be beyond weird, but I guess I'm not really thinking of you like I should be, which is good. But maybe it's bad? I don't know." She paused and looked around the room, shoving one of her hands through her hair. "Is it getting hot in here?"

"Ino." She paused and looked at him, wondering if her meaningless and rambling one sided conversation had made even one lick of sense.

"I," He started, his face as serious as she had ever seen it. "Have had feelings for you for a long time. I don't know when they started, all I know is that one day I woke up and your laugh just seemed to make everything better. You're this... light, and every time I see you something inside of me burns and tells me that you're the one person that I've been searching for. I didn't want to stop being your friend by telling you all this because you've needed a friend more than anything these past months. But now I know that I can only go forward, even if it means having to lose you."

Ino found that she suddenly couldn't breathe. She thought about how weird this was supposed to be, after all, Choji was one of her best friends. She shouldn't be feeling like this for her best friend! She knew it wouldn't work, it _couldn't_ work.

Really, she should just stop all of this now.

"O-Okay." Was what she said instead, causing Choji to blink at her.

"Okay?" He asked puzzled. She bit her lip.

"Yeah... Maybe? I don't know." She sighed and flopped onto the couch next to him. "I just... don't know. I mean... You're... and I'm... Okay." She said again, finding the resolve she needed to have her straightening up and looking him in the eye.

"Ino?" He questioned, freezing when the kunoichi grabbed his shirt and pulled him down to her so that they were kissing.

It was a searching kiss, one where the both of them acted as if what was slowly building between them would break. One of his hands gently went up to cup her face, the other going to her throat, his thumb lightly brushing over her pulse, and Ino wondered when his hands had gotten so big and... strong. She held onto his shirt tightly, tilting her head just a bit and it all just seemed to slide into place. She leaned back and looked at him and said once again, "Okay."

His lips twitched. "Is that all you're going to say?"

She shook her head and took a breath. "That was... good. And I might not be all that used to the idea but the more and more I think about it the more I think that I like the idea." She saw him start to smile and she held up a finger. "A few things first though. I'm not going to sleep with you after the first few dates. You're different than the other guys I've been with, and I don't want what we have to be ruined by us sleeping together too soon." He opened and closed his mouth, shocked by how fast the whole conversation was going.

"I want us to still be friends if this doesn't work out. You're important to me and if I feel like this thing is headed into territory we can't go through and come out still friends, I'll end it. And no extra girls for you. I'm it until we end it, got it?" He smiled and nodded.

"Okay."

* * *

My first InoCho!

Might be my last. I'm just not really feeling the juices flow with this couple, sort of like Kathy just took a nap half way through.

Oh well, it's not bad, just not my best.

OH! And I just got my first follow! After just like three weeks! AHHH! So, my adorable follower, I wrote this just for you:

_I wrote this for you_

_Yes, I wrote you a Haiku_

_Bananas are great._

Stupid, I know, but it's just for you my darling! I love you!

I love _all_ of you! Bananas for all! _Huzzah! Hurrah! Pineapples! _


	21. Imprisioned, MisaLee

Okay! I've had this character picked out since the beginning, but i just now sat down and wrote this out.

This is the story of How Lee and the OC I made for him (I didn't want him to be lonely!) met.

Sooo... Tada!

* * *

Misaki groaned, eyes fluttering open before slamming shut again as a wave of nausea rocked her to her very core. She tried to move her arm but it felt so heavy that she gave up, trying instead to focus past the terrible pain that pounded her head and figure out what had happened.

She remembered going to the village to see some rich family about the next possible arranged marriage her uncle had found for her, this one in some far off land that she didn't even bother remembering. She had sneaked away from the escorts and guards, taking the horse the stable hand had given her and walking with it out of the village, not wanting to ride until she had gotten to the meadow she had heard the villagers talking about.

She had only wanted a few fleeting moments of freedom before she had finally been forced to choose who she would follow for the rest of her life, that was all. Just a few short moments where it could be just her and nobody else. But then her horse had suddenly collapsed and when the stranger had appeared to help she had felt a little prick in her neck and everything had gone black.

Slowly this time she opened her eyes, taking in the high ceiling and the reaching stone walls, the stiff straw beneath her body and the miniscule window at the very top of the far wall.

Excruciatingly slowly she turned her head and saw a flash of green and orange. Fighting against the pain she turned a bit more and saw the stranger who had been trying to help her on the road. He had said his name had been... Stone? Rock. Rock Lee.

"Rock-San? Are you awake?" She croaked out, wincing at how unbearably dry her throat was. The man that was laying on the ground didn't stir or make a sound, he didn't even seem to breathe.

Biting her lip against the pain Misaki began to move slowly to his side, using her arms to drag herself across the ground since it seemed that she hadn't gotten the feeling back into her legs just yet. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes as she slowly made her way to the man, her head screaming in agony, her limbs fighting her every inch of the way.

She collapsed just a breath away from the man, their faces facing each other. Panting from the excruciating trip she began to call his name again, reaching out to shake his shoulder.

At her gentle and insistent touch his eyes immediately shot open, staring right at her. "Oh good," She said, smiling warmly at him, "You're awake."

And she promptly passed out.

* * *

Lee blinked down at the unconscious girl beside him. When she had first passed out he had panicked, moving to see if he could help her somehow but his muscles hadn't seemed to want to cooperate with him and had refused to move.

It had taken just under five minutes to force everything to work correctly and though a terrible headache still relentlessly pounded his head he cheerily ignored it, instead focusing on the girl.

He had stopped to help her with her horse when they had been attacked by something, the attackers staying hidden and shooting poisoned darts at them and knocking them out. He didn't know what their captors wanted but he knew that sooner or later they'd come out and tell them, and he was sure that the girl wanted to be awake for it.

He grabbed her shoulder and shook her, watching as her eyes slowly fluttered open. She blinked a few times as she recalled everything and then groaned. "Do you need help up?" He asked after watching her struggle to move for a few minutes. She nodded and he helped her into a sitting position, smiling brightly at her.

"Well, hello again." She smiled hesitantly back.

"Ah, yes. Hello Rock-san. Pleasure to meet you again, even if the circumstances are less than favorable." She said politely. "I don't believe I've introduced myself just yet. My name is Izumi Misaki." Her lips twitched at how odd it was that she was being so calm and polite in the situation they were in. Really, it was all laughable.

"Ah, what a beautiful name! It suits a lovely and youthful flower such as you!" He proclaimed exuberantly, causing Misaki to blink at him for a moment, stunned at the sheer animation of the man.

"Well... I've never heard it put quite like that. Thank you, you're very kind." She said, blushing faintly. Coming from a rich family she was used to receiving compliments from people who wished to charm their way into her family and money, but this man didn't know of either and he had been so... earnest with the compliment.

She was about to say something, perhaps complimenting him on something in return, when the slat in the door at the other end of the cell slid open. "Ah, good, you're awake. We worried the drug might have been too much for your delicate nature, good lady. And your companion! It took nearly five darts to incapacitate him, about the same it takes to down an entire bull elephant! An incredible feat, really."

"Ah, young ninja! Yes, you in the terrible green outfit with your forehead protector around your waist. Don't try to foolishly escape. Check the back of the girl's neck." Lee scrunched up his forehead and turned to do as the scratchy and faceless voice bid him to do, lifting up the heavy weight of Misaki's hair to peer at her neck.

Thick black lines curved and squiggled around the back of her neck to reach around her throat, making a painted choaker of a sort. Lee blinked at the seal and wondered why they had put it there and what it would do.

"That seal, if you ever dare to try and move from this cell without our permission, will tighten and choke her slowly to death. Excruciatingly slowly, I might add." The voice chuckled as if it had just told the funniest joke. "Now, I must leave you. But never fear! I'll be back."

Misaki turned to Lee after the slat had closed and placed a hand to her throat. "Is it true? Is it really there?" She asked. Lee nodded and pulled on his serious expression.

"Yes."

"You can try and escape if you want. They didn't say anything about putting a seal on you."

"No. I can't just leave you here, especially if you'll die when I leave."

"Are you really a ninja?"

"Yes." She nodded slowly and sighed, wondering how long it would take her family to pull the money together since captors in this situation always wanted money. At least when she was gone Lee could escape.

"Do you have any good stories? It seems that we're going to be in here a while."

* * *

Naruto rubbed his hand over his face roughly. If he had to hear another word about the stupid tree blocking Fifth Street he'd scream. Didn't he say he was fixing it? Didn't he just send some workers out to remove it? Did any of that stop the nitpicky old ladies from coming into the Hokage's office and interrupting his work to point out, _again_, that it was blocking the shortcut to their favorite yarn store?

There was another knock at his door and Naruto thought he was going to break something. "Yes?" He barked out, his latest assistant stepping in hesitantly.

"Ah, I'm sorry to interrupt Hokage-Sama but Madame Shijimi is here to see you. She says that it is urgent." Naruto nodded and waved for the girl to let the woman in, wondering if Tsunade had left any sake behind accidently.

The plump woman made her way in, looking as dejected and hopeless as she ever had. Naruto resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Madame Shijimi I'm sure the genin team assigned to the mission are working very hard to find your cat-"

"I'm afraid," She interrupted, her voice oddly quiet for the usually boisterous woman, "That this is a far more serious matter." She sat down in front of the desk and slid a glossy photo across it.

"My niece," She choked out, "Is missing. She has been for a week now, though we only just received this photograph today."

Naruto leaned forward and studied the picture of the unconscious girl in a small cell and then at the other picture the woman slid across his desk, one of a much cleaner girl. Her thick and curling brown and red hair was held back from a regal face, straightforward navy blue eyes meeting the camera directly, a small beauty mark below the corner of her left eye. She looked every bit the elegant princess that she must have been treated as.

"The demands?" Naruto asked, setting the photos back down.

"None. Hokage... My niece is the closest thing I have to a child and the thing I love most in this world along with my cat. I want her back to the safety of our home as soon as possible."

Naruto nodded. "Of course."

* * *

"Favorite color?"

"Green."

Misaki giggled. "I guess that should have been obvious. Mine is yellow. It's such a happy color. How about day of the week?" Lee grinned as he once again defeated the girl in their thumb war. It was impossible for her to win, but she was getting craftier with the ways she evaded him.

"Monday. It's the first day of the week, and the beauty of it makes me feel my youth completely!" Misaki giggled again, finding the sheer exuberance the man beside her had endearing and so unlike the attitude of all the nobles she had ever came into contact with.

She was falling slowly and sweetly for him, the week they had spent only in each other's company forging sweet bonds that she was more than happy to have. He was funny and energetic and sweet and honest and everything Misaki had ever wanted and more when she had dreamed of a future.

"Mine's Wednesday. It's in the middle, so you can look back and see all the bad things and promise yourself that you'll even it out by coming up with a lot of good things. Now... Favorite weather?"

"Rain."

"Rain? Why rain?" She asked, expecting him to be more of a sunshine person.

"Because it's the best weather to train in." Misaki grinned. Of course it would deal with training. Even imprisoned he was insistent of doing his training no matter what.

"Mine is slightly cloudy. That way you get the sunshine but also shade when you need some relief. Food?"

"I like all foods." Misaki blew the stringy strands of hair out of her face and looked at him disbelievingly.

"Really? _All_ foods?" He nodded and won again. Misaki wrinkled her nose.

"Well, I don't. I hate cabbage. And crab. Basically all foods that smell bad, and also all fried deserts. But my favorite is strawberries. You can't go wrong with anything strawberry flavored." Lee won again and let go of her hand, standing up to stretch as he did every day when his internal clock went off.

He got down and got in the position to do pushups and Misaki -just as she had been doing every day to help him- sat on his back. He started, using only the fingertips of his left hand, and Misaki just started talking, not really expecting much of a conversation from him when he was doing his exercises.

"There was this one time when I went over to my Aunt's and she had gotten me this doll. It was supposed to look like me but it was absolutely terrifying and its eyes followed you everywhere, sometimes even through the _walls_. I kept on throwing it out but it would always end up on my dresser every night, grinning evilly at me like it knew what I was thinking, and I swear it was taunting me with the fact that I'd never get rid of it. So one night I snuck out and buried it in the back yard in this locked wooden box, but when I woke up it was right back on my dresser, all dirty and just as freaky as ever. I finally got rid of it when we went sailing and I tied it in a bag filled with rocks and threw it into the middle of the lake."

Lee rumbled out a deep chuckle and Misaki grinned, holding on tightly to his shirt so that she wasn't thrown off by his rapid up and down movements, feeling the muscles in his back work with a little thrill inside.

He was so... strong. Strong was a definite addition to the quickly growing _"__List of thing Misaki really likes about Lee"_.

She continued to ramble on until he stopped; obviously getting the number he wanted since he would never quit before then. He crouched down and motioned to his back. "Sit on my shoulders." Misaki blinked, obviously misunderstanding him. He couldn't have just told her to sit on his shoulders.

"Huh?"

"My shoulders. So I can do squats and lunges." Misaki blinked at him again, tempted to call him crazy and refuse to do it, but then he'd push at her and she'd say no and then she'd end up doing it anyways, so she just sighed and got up on his shoulders, holding onto his hair for dear life and squeaking every time he dropped down.

She'd have to add soft hair to the list.

* * *

Naruto looked at the friends he had gathered in front of him, folding his hands on top of his desk. "The reason I have called you here-"

"Oh, stop acting like you're the Hokage and get on with it." Tenten grumbled, annoyed at getting pulled away from her nice comfy bed and sexy husband, though said husband was currently elbowing her in the stomach as he hissed at her to be more respectful. Damn Hyuuga.

"I'm not _acting_ like the Hokage I am the Hokage! And as Hokage I called you here for something very important. The Daimyo's niece has been kidnapped and I promised to send some of the best out there. And I figured that since you and Neji had a personal interest-"

"What personal interest?"

Naruto pushed the photo across the table, hoping to stop the interruptions. "Do you recognize what's in the corner?" Tenten stared at it for a moment before looking up at Naruto and nodding, handing the picture over to Neji.

"I'd know that tacky orange leg warmer anywhere."

Naruto shoved a hand through his hair and sighed. "So we have a captive ninja and civilian. A very important civilian. And Shijimi wants it all kept as quiet as possible so-"

"Yeah, we got it. Be careful."

Naruto rolled his eyes at Kiba and then turned to look over at the pink haired medic-nin and his best friend. "Right. Are you sure about going?" She nodded.

"Yeah. Kakashi can watch Karin while I'm gone." She turned to Neji and Tenten. "What about Rin?"

"We'll leave her with Hinata."

Naruto nodded and then handed the mission scroll to Neji, the five of them leaving to get ready, Shino staying as eerily silent as ever.

* * *

"You know, this could be worse. They could be feeding us nothing." Misaki paused and looked down into her bowl of... _something_, swearing that it had just moved, and wrinkled her nose. "Nope. Never mind. I'd rather have nothing."

Lee's smiled and watched as she swallowed another spoonful with a tortured expression on her face. "The taste isn't as bad as we think it is, the smell is just very off putting." Misaki grinned.

"Are you really always so optimistic?" Lee pulled a thoughtful expression.

"I believe I am!"

When their mysterious supper was finally finished they curled up on the little piles of straw and went to sleep, trying to ignore the quickly growing and increasingly overwhelming chill that the air carried.

Misaki wrapped her arms tightly around herself as she shivered, teeth clacking together with breath puffing out in short clouds. It was just so... cold. She jumped when she felt Lee move in behind her, his arms coming around to rapidly rub her arms and heat them with friction.

"Sorry, but you'll freeze if we don't do something and the best way to do that is to share body heat." Misaki nodded. She had heard of that before, and it was the logical thing to do if she wanted to wake up the next morning as anything other than a frozen popsicle. Though even with that knowledge she couldn't stop her face from flushing from how close they had gotten, leaving her to hope that he didn't have some crazy ninja eye sight that could see in the dark.

"Good night, Lee-kun." She whispered as the lullaby of his heartbeat soothed and surrounded her.

* * *

When she woke up with his arms around her, lending her his heat, she figured it out. She really liked Lee. The kind Lee who had tried to help her and had stayed with her when he could have left, the sweet Lee who played stupid games with her to keep her mind busy, the determined Lee who still trained every day, the strong Lee, the happily optimistic Lee. She liked each and every bit of him.

It wasn't love just yet, but it could grow so easily into love if they spent some time together, actual time together outside of the little cell. She just had to wait until they got out and then she'd ask and make her move.

Or maybe she didn't have to wait to make the first move.

"If I've kept track of the days we've been here correctly I turned twenty today. According to the plan my Aunt and Uncle thought up, I was supposed to be getting married to my chosen suitor at the end of the week... And I guess that's one of the reasons I'm glad that I got stuck in here. I don't want to marry someone who only sees me as just an extension of my uncle's status, someone who won't see me and won't let me see them until it's too late. I'm not ready for marriage, at least not until I fall in love first."

She turned in his arms and looked up into Lee's eyes. "Is it okay, Lee-kun, for me to fall in love?"

"Everyone has the right to fall in love."

Misaki smiled softly at him. "I'll hold you to that." She said, leaning in to press her lips to his. The few kisses she had shared before had been dry and stiff, usually those of men trying to be too forward and forcing themselves on her as if such actions would win her favor.

But this was different. It was nice and warm, carrying a sweetness that made her lips curve up into a slight smile. She leaned back and looked up into Lee's stunned face. He looked at her and she smiled, watching as he quickly smiled back his usual bright smile.

They lay there beaming at each other until the complete absurdity of the situation hit her. She leaned forward and buried her face into his neck, giggling. "What?" He asked, puzzled by her sudden mirth. She shook her head.

"It's just that I never would have thought that I would _ever_ meet the person I'd fall for in a prison cell."

"That's what you're laughing at?" He asked, still a little puzzled. She nodded and hiccuped.

"Yes! It's just so absurd that I just... had to laugh." She said and giggled again, hoping that she would always be this happy

* * *

Nearly three weeks into their imprisonment the two were woken up by a large explosion from outside their cell. Misaki jerked out of the peaceful dreams she had been having and grabbed onto the arm that had been resting around her waist as they had slept.

"What was that?" She shouted over the chaotic cacophony of sounds, turning to face him. He smiled and grabbed her hand, pressing a kiss gallantly to the back of it and making her blush.

"That," He declared proudly, "Is our rescue."

They sat there for a few more minutes watching the thick steel door, jumping back when it suddenly groaned and fell into the room, a tall and proud black haired man with glowing white eyes and veins protruding from his face standing in the doorway, hands glowing with chakra. At the sight of the man Lee jumped up.

"Ah! My eternal rival! I expected you here three days ago!" He said, grinning brightly at the man. The man sighed and looked beyond his teammate to take in the girl on the floor, checking her over with his strange eyes to make sure she was unharmed. A woman with matching buns on top of her head shoved past the man to glare at Lee.

"Hey! Stop being ungrateful! It would have been easier if you would have just forced your way out of here. The guards were just pathetic. Come on and get out of there, we need to get the girl home." Lee grinned at his teammates.

"I," He said, grinning broadly and nearly blinding the group. "Will not." They blinked.

"Um... What?"

"Or, it's more like I cannot."

"Again," She snapped, "What?"

"They seemed to have put a seal on Misaki that will kill her if I step out of this room." Misaki blushed and looked down when the two turned to look at her, horribly embarrassed that Lee's friends were seeing her in the state she was in.

There were a few more minutes until the others joined them, and then some pink haired medic was poking at her. "Ah... can you fix it?" The woman blew some straying strands of hair out of her face.

"No. I'm not an expert in seals. There are a few back at the village like our Hokage, but that doesn't really help us here, does it?"

The girl with buns crossed her arms over her chest. "We could have brought Yuki and Yuka. Maybe we can transport them here with some scrolls." The white haired man, his face having gone back to normal, raised his eyes to the ceiling.

"They're seven, Tenten. We can't just go dragging them across the lands on dangerous missions." Tenten rolled her eyes at him and his stupid logic.

The pink haired girl tilted her head and then her eyes widened. "They would have sedated the two of you to get you out of here, so maybe the seal allows for that. How did they knock you out the first time, Lee?"

"Five darts of something that made my mouth taste like cotton candy." The girl's eyes literally bugged out of her head.

"_That_ drug? That's enough to _kill_ a person!" Lee grinned happily at her, unphased by her shock. "Yes, they said that it was enough to take down an elephant."

The pinkette growled at him, trembling with her fury. "That is NOT something to be proud of!"

"Ah, I'm sorry to interrupt, but where were you going with that thought, Miss?" Everyone blinked at the well-mannered girl, the angry woman calming down.

"Uh, well if we knock Lee out, maybe the seal won't register it."

Lee nodded. "Okay! Neji, we shall fight until I pass out and..." Sakura raised her hands to stop them.

"Or," She said sweetly, "We could press your pressure points until you pass out. A simple and painless process." Lee was about to say something when a polite and quiet voice cut through them again.

"I vote for that option."

Lee blinked and then grinned. "Then that is the one we'll go with!"

"We'll do it for you too, Izumi-sama, so that we won't take any chances." The girl nodded. "All right. Let's do it."

* * *

The second time waking up was easier, though it might have been from the lack of the drugs. In a few moments Misaki was swinging her legs over the side of the bed she found herself in, looking around the quaint little room with confusion. Jumping when the door was pushed open, she turned and saw the woman with the buns.

"Ah, Tenten, right?" Tenten nodded and held up the bundle of clothes.

"We figured that you'd like to get cleaned up. Since you seem to be... built differently than Sakura and myself you'll just have to take these. The shirt probably smells like dog and the pants are too big, but the underwear is clean. No bra though. The bathroom is through there." Misaki took the clothes and smiled gratefully to the woman, thrilled at the prospect of finally being clean again.

"Thank you."

She had actually forgotten how wonderful a bath felt, how nice it was to have cleanly shaved legs and non-oily hair, and to actually smell like something else other than someone who had been stuck in a dank little cell for three weeks. And lotion, God she had missed lotion. She had missed everything about primping and being clean.

After drying her hair off she started to get dressed, taking in the clothes her saviors had so graciously given her. The T-shirt was obviously a man's shirt, hanging down to mid-thigh and billowing around her slim form, though it outlined her loose breasts rather provocatively, chosen since the two other women didn't quite have her... attributes. The bottoms were just draw string sweat shorts, the legs hanging down below her knees and the tie having to be cinched up nearly all the way so that they wouldn't fall off of her slim hips.

It was probably the silliest outfit she had ever worn but she was clean and she just couldn't find it in her to care, even if the shirt did smell just the tiniest bit like a dog.

When she stepped into the adjacent bedroom to the one she had woken up in all eyes went to her, though she was unable to notice since her attention immediately fixated on Lee.

"Hey," Kiba said, sliding up to her. "I must say that you look a lot better in that shirt than I ever did." Not even fully noticing the man, she just murmured a thank you before hurrying over to Lee's side.

"Lee-kun, are you alright?" She asked, fluttering her hands around him as if she could help in some way if he had been hurt.

He grinned at her, "Yes! I'm fine! And you?"

The two started up their little conversation, not even noticing the four gaping -and one expressionless- people that watched them.

* * *

Misaki stared into the mirror at her perfect reflection, brushing her fingers over where the seal used to be before the Hokage had removed it, an almost pained expression on her face.

She hadn't seen Lee since the day they had said their goodbyes outside of the Hokage's office, and she could only hope he had gotten the message and would show up tonight.

Misaki quietly and gracefully walked through the halls of the grand house she was currently in, stopping in front of a set of double doors. Taking a breath she prepared herself for the first task she had to complete before her new life could begin, and ever so lightly she knocked on the door.

"Enter."

She quickly did as he said, bowing slightly to the man who sat behind the ornately carved desk. "Uncle. I have something I wish to speak to you about."

"Very well then."

"I know that I said that I'd marry a suitable suitor you approved of to better our family but... after the past few weeks I have discovered that I do not wish to live such a cold life. So I beg of you Uncle, will you please allow me to do as I wish for my happiness?"

The man looked down at her, the leader of the entire country of fire, and shrugged. "Eh. I don't see why not."

* * *

Misaki sat on the bench watching as all of the happy couples passed her by, smiling and hoping that she'd soon be joining them. Something so sweetly simple and charming as a walk through the park as a couple was what she wanted more than anything, ready to use her new freedom to do such things.

Lee didn't walk up to her or even run, he just dropped down from the tree behind her, startling her and everyone around who had seen. "Ah! Lee-kun!" Misaki gasped, pressing her hand to her rapidly beating heart.

"Yes?"

"Ah," Misaki began, twisting her fingers together. "I asked my uncle and he has allowed me to come here to live and has released me from any deals involving a political marriage." She said, looking up at him through her eyelashes. "And I was wondering if maybe we could... ah... if we could continue our relationship." She mumbled, nervous that he wouldn't want her now that his options were open again. But he merely grinned at her.

"Of course!"

* * *

I originally planned to have him hired by her father the Daimyo (not her uncle in the original version) to protect her.

But then the lovely and beautiful Kathy-who-denies-me-sleep rolled her eyes, pushed away my feelings and forced me to type into the night. And this is the result! (Actually not all that happy with it)

I love you all like I love drawings of fat panda babies! (And that is a _lot_)


	22. Ink Stains

I got my first review!

You said that you liked my kids so I decided to write this one for you, my dearest darling!

Just a little idea and some more about the library, Leo, Kyoko, and my twins.

* * *

"Yuka, don't you think we should use pens or markers?"

Yuka rolled her eyes at her twin as she opened the glass vial of ink she had recently bought for the copies she and Yuki secretly made of the scrolls in the Yondaime's library, the two of them taking the copies back home to study. "It doesn't have a very authentic feel if we use pens. And markers? What are we, five?" She whispered, the both of them forced to be quiet due to the ANBU that were probably outside the door.

"No, we're ten and we'll be in huge trouble if Dad ever hears that we brought something we could spill into the library."

Yuka huffed at her twin, growing tired of her worrying. What was the worst that could happen? "Really, how would he ever know that? Are you going to tell him?" Yuki shook her head and tucked some of her long blue hair behind her ear as she leaned over the current scroll they were trying to copy.

"No but you could spill it-"

"What are you two doing?!" A boy with wildly spiking and shocking red hair shouted, jumping out from behind one of the shelves and making the two frightened girls jump. They watched as -almost in slow motion- the jar of ink leaped from Yuka's hand and began the agonizing decent downwards, flipping and twisting almost magically out of their reaching grasps.

They both heard the thud of the vial hitting the parchment as if it were the sound of the final nail being hammered into their coffins.

"Like that." Yuki finished, groaning in agony at the violent and vivid slash of black ink on the nearly priceless scroll, one of the countless rare scrolls dealing with seals and jutsus that the Hokages of the past had collected.

During his rule the Yondaime had taken the most important scrolls and had transferred them into the vault like library hidden beneath the Hokage Mountain that he had made so that he could keep them safe.

The library had been lost after his death, only to be found when some wandering genin had come across the entrance after an earthquake.

"No..." Yuka whispered, turning to her younger brother and trying to kill him with her eyes. "_What have you done?_" She hissed, raising her hands to try and catch the boy and decapitate him. He jumped back from her reach, holding his hands up defensively.

"Hey! You're the ones who brought it in here! You guys aren't supposed to be in here anyways."

"Shut up! Do you want us to get caught?" Yuka hissed, though Leo only rolled his eyes at her.

"Relax, the ANBU aren't out there right now." Yuka blinked and relaxed, letting out a deep breath.

"Oh. Okay..."

"WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING? DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?! HOW ARE YOU GOING TO FIX THIS?!" She was screaming so loudly that Leo had to cover his ears, wincing at how high pitched her voice was.

"Can't you do anything?"

She shrieked and would have tried to kill him had it not been for Yuki wrapping her arms around the girl's waist to hold her back. "Hey! We can figure something out! Now, we need to figure out how to get the ink off without getting the writing off."

"What about that chakra thing you made up to get stains out of the carpet when you accidentally spilled tomato juice all over Mom's white rug?"

Yuka pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut to try and straighten her thoughts out. "No, that won't work. You have to spread out a sheet of chakra under the stain and lift up and it will pick up the stains off of the individual fibers. If you do that with this it would probably lift up the past ink stains, which means that all of the writing we're trying to save would be lifted up."

Seeing no way to come out of this without having to face their father, Yuka lay down next to the ruined scroll and stared up at the steel ceiling and the dim lights bleakly. "Were dead."

Leo perked up. "I got an idea!" He said excitably to Yuki, both of them turning when the girl on the ground groaned in defeat.

"Not just dead but now our IQ is going to drop from whatever drivel you've thought up."

Leo stuck out his tongue and briefly thought about leaving the girls in this little fix of theirs, but he quickly dismissed it. He might not have liked one of them all that much at the moment, but they were siblings and siblings always helped each other out when faced with certain doom.

"I'll be back in a few minutes!" He said before bounding off. Yuki looked down at Yuka and smiled reassuringly.

"It won't be that bad. Maybe the idea will actually pan out." Yuka merely closed her eyes and laced her fingers together over her stomach, trying to come to peace with her coming death.

"Hush now, Yuki. Now go grab some paper and something to write with -we have plenty of ink. I have a will for you to write out for me."

"Yuka..."

"I hereby bequeath all of my belongings-"

"What belongings? Everything we have is technically Mom's and Dad's, or weren't you paying attention all those times they took our toys?" Yuka cracked her eyes open, blue tinted white staring into their matching twin's.

"I have that stuffed panda I won at the festival."

"Oh, so sorry, that obviously makes all the difference."

Yuka was about to retort when they heard hurried footsteps and raised voices. "Ow! Hey! Leo, stop pulling me around!"

They turned to find their wild haired brother dragging a gangly girl with spiked pigtails behind him. They both blinked at the older girl, trying to figure out why she was there. "Uh... Hi, Kyoko. Nice to see you here?" Kyoko blew a few loose strands of hair out of her face.

"Yeah. Hey. So... Why did your brother drag me away from my training?"

"We don't know." They said in unison, said brother rolling his vivid blue eyes at them like everything should have been obvious. "She's really smart, so she can help!"

"Actually, my father is the smart one. I'm just above average." Kyoko protested, though it went unheard by the other three children.

"Leo, _we're_ really smart." Yuka sighed, fed up with it all.

"Yeah, but you're also the one who spilled ink on the scroll and-"

"Wait! One of the the Yondaime's scrolls? The priceless ones that you two are grounded from on threat of death? Those scrolls?" The two girls nodded and Kyoko turned and threw her hands up in the air. "Nope. Not gonna happen. I wasn't here, I had nothing to do with this, and I will not partake in the activities of criminals."

"We're not-"

"People who destroy property of the village after being forbidden by their parents to even be near said property are criminals."

"But-"

"No!"

"But we're in a lot of trouble and we really need some help. Please Kyoko." Yuki pleaded, watching as the girl paused and slumped, defeated by the puppy eyes she could _feel_ the younger girl was giving her.

"Why me?" She muttered, rubbing her hands roughly over her face as she tried to think everything through.

"The ink on the pages is probably made of different ingredients than the ink you just bought since they were made by different people at different places and were made in different times."

Yuka nodded. "I can roughly figure it out with that but it's not exact. I might mess up and take some of the old ink."

Kyoko pressed her temples, just imagining the teams of ANBU coming in to take them away for doing all of this to priceless and irreplaceable artifacts. "To dry it faster they'd sprinkle sand over the ink back then." Yuki blinked and then hurried to the scroll, muttering to herself as she dropped to her hands and knees.

"If I can find the sand I can lift up with chakra... only once... freaking sand... coarse or fine?" She hissed, creating a terrifyingly thin plate of chakra between what sand it could find and the new ink. Holding their breath, everyone watched as she lifted up and funneled the ink back into the bottle, a collective cry of joy coming from the group when they saw the scroll looking as if it had never been ruined.

Laughing at how giddy the rush of relief left them the twins hugged each other, relieved to be getting off completely free and clear.

"What's going on here?"

Well, perhaps not _completely_.

Slowly the four children turned, hearts sinking in terror at the sight of Naruto marching down the rows of shelves, his Hokage robes billowing out behind him terrifyingly.

Seeing the look in his eyes and being thankful that she wasn't related to him Kyoko decided it was time to bow out gracefully. "Well, it was nice knowing the three of you. I'll never forget you." She said as she hurried out, passing by Naruto with a smile and a wave, hoping that she could get off without a punishment. After all, it wasn't like she had had anything to do with the actual problem.

"Daddy! Ah... Hello. How was your day?" Yuka asked, happy that they had finally gotten that ink off just before he had showed up. Naruto knelt down in front of his girls and smiled warmly.

"Fine. There wasn't too much paper work and a few good deals went through, so I thought that I'd come here and grab a scroll so we could look at it together at home since the two of you have been so good about not breaking the rules recently. But to my surprise I discovered that three of my children were here, two of which have been expressly forbidden from stepping foot in here for the next two months." His face changed, the smile gone and his eyes becoming flat, sending a slight shaft fear into each of his children's hearts.

"Now, why is that?"

"Daddy-" Yuka began, but she froze when he turned his flat eyes towards her.

"Yes?"

"Umm... We're sorry?"

"Oh no," He said as he stood up, putting his hands on both of the girls' backs to push them ahead of him, jerking his head to show that Leo should walk in front of them as they left. "You're not. But trust me, when we get home you will be."

* * *

This one was me, no Kathy involved except for Kyoko. (Originally I had Rin being dragged in there, but Kathy showed me that Kyoko is obviously a better choice so I rolled with it. I might hate her for keeping me up until ungodly hours, but she's always right.)

And even though Leo and Yuka don't get along they're still siblings so they'd help each other out (this is a real rule between siblings and it is one you do not break. It's almost like a commandment. (I have two younger brothers))

But the twins and Leo do a lot of stuff together, though two of them are usually arguing. Like regular siblings.

I love you like I love Snickers. And trust me, that's a lot.


	23. A New Team

Kori walked into the classroom with a spring in her step, happy with the knowledge that today would be the last day she would ever have to wake up and sit in one of the dreadful seats that were housed in it. After all, when she stepped out of this room for the last time she would have a team. With teammates! She adjusted her forehead protector slightly, wanting to look perfect and dependable for the first time her comrades -her precious people- looked upon her as their teammate.

She sat on the edge of her seat fidgeting, anxious to hear her name called by the teacher as he assigned the teams. Then –miracle of miracles- she heard it and nearly jumped out of her seat with joy.

"Uzumaki Kori with… Mako Sora and… Tsubaki Mio." Smiling like a child at Christmas Kori turned, searching the rows of students for her teammates so that she could beam at them with undiluted joy.

After the teams were called most of the students were whispering about who the teachers would be but Kori didn't bother, already knowing hers since he had been training her during the past years, and she was more than happy to have him. Though when he showed up the entire class sighed in relief at the fact that they wouldn't have to have _him_ as their teacher.

"Lee-sensei!" She cried out when he leaped into the room in his usually horrid green spandex outfit and astonishingly bright smile. She bounded down the stairs and threw her arms around his waist, forgoing any sense of decorum in face of just how happy the day was making her, and it didn't bother Lee in the least as he hugged his student back exuberantly.

"Where are my other cute students?" He asked, grinning as he looked over the crowd expectantly, making the children flinch back at just how white his teeth were.

Two of the newly made genin trudged down the stairs and to their new teacher, sadly following him and their new teammate out of the classroom and out to one of the training grounds.

"Alright!" Lee shouted, startling the two children who weren't use to the sheer amount energy that the man seemed to have. "I'll get started with the introductions! I am Rock Lee and I'll be your teacher from here on out! I cannot use chakra so I am a taijutsu master, and I strive to show everyone that ninjas can be great even without ninjutsus! I am married to a beautiful young lotus blossom and one day you will get to meet her! Now, tell me about yourselves and your dreams!"

The two blinked at him, trying to figure out what _nutcase_ would ever marry this man.

Kori stood up proudly, putting her hands on her hips. "I am Uzumaki Kori and even though my parents have great chakra I have terrible control of it so I mainly focus on taijutsu. I have four younger brothers and sisters and my father is the Hokage, but you probably already knew that. I want to prove myself as a ninja and make all of my family and friends proud. My hobbies are training and my nindo is that I'll never give up and that I'll always protect my precious people, just like my parents."

She smiled, waiting for the next person to go, white eyes flickering back and forth between them. "I suppose I'll go next." Sighed the slim girl tucking a strand of her short black hair behind her ear.

"My name is Tsubaki Mio. My family owns a acupuncture spa which I one day hope to run, and I take advantage of the training on pressure points and chakra flow to use it for fighting." She twisted her legs beneath her, her short skirt hiking up her fishnet clad legs. "My hobbies are making myself beautiful and shopping. I also like-"

"Stop it!" Shouted the person sitting beside her, glaring at her.

"What's got you upset?" She asked sweetly and the other person growled.

"You're a boy! Stop acting like a girl, I mean, you even dress like one!" Kori blinked at the two of them, watching as Mio took a slim fan from the sleeve of her jacket and flicked it open, stirring the air idly.

"But isn't it nice to have people thinking that we're a team of just girls?" The person who had been yelling turned slowly, amethyst eyes burning with fury.

"I. Am. A. Boy." He growled.

Kori looked him over, taking in the golden red braid that brushed his waist, the elegant and smooth unmarred features of his face, the clear and creamy complexion that many women would kill for and the slim waist that they would gladly die for. There was absolutely nothing remotely masculine looking about the boy, but she wouldn't be telling him that.

Of course, Mio was doing that perfectly fine by herself. Or himself.

"Really Sora-chan, what's got you all riled up?"

"Chan? _Chan?_ Why I-"

"Ah! Sora, you are going next?!" Lee exclaimed, grinning broadly at the boy, though he only glared glared back.

"No! What I'm going to do is-"

"Oh, but Sora-kun! I really want to get to know you better so we can become close as teammates!" Kori exclaimed, clearly seeing where this was going and not wanting her poor sensei being hurt when he had been so excited about having a happy little team of his own.

Pausing the boy blinked, straightening up and puffing out his chest, deepening his voice at the girl's use of "kun".

"Well, I suppose if you ask like _that_. My name is Mako Sora and I come from a small clan that has recently moved to the village when our old one was destroyed in a hurricane. Our greatest weapon is our hair, which is why we never cut it. I am a _boy,_ and my clan is actually mainly male based, even if we take better care of our hair instead of our kunai. My hobbies are working out so that I can become more masculine and also origami -which is _manly, _goddamn it Mio! And my dream... it would be to continue on with my family traditions." He paused. "And I don't feel comfortable disclosing what those are."

Lee grinned proudly at them all. "Right! Well, my precious students, I have seen the youthful energy between you and have decided that it is time to train! We'll start off easy with a mere fifty laps around the village!" He shouted, pumping his fist into the air grandly, his two new students blinking at him.

"You _can't_ be serious." Mio declared.

Kori sent them a sympathetic look. "He is, but you don't need to worry. You'll get used to it. We'll be doing a lot worse here soon."

"_Worse?_"

"Wait until he gives you the weighed clothes."

"No." Mio said, putting her/his hands on her/his hips and glaring at Lee, the midriff bearing shirt she/he was wearing riding up slightly. "I am wearing heeled boots and I refuse to run in them. It would_ruin _them, and can you imagine how much that will mess with my calves?" Sora snorted, not really liking the idea either but way too happy with how this was affecting Mio to care.

"Maybe if you wore clothes that were more suited for training, like _boy's_ clothes since you're a _boy,_ you wouldn't have this problem." Mio's eyes flared.

"You know what, I'll get used to it." She/he hissed, getting up to angrily stride away, determined to beat Sora no matter what, even if she/he had to do it in heels.

* * *

This introduces Kori's teammates and I just want to say that I absolutely _love _Sora and Mio.

And no, they will never get together. Sora likes girls and even though Mio is a girl in every aspect but her body, she's also into girls. (And I _will _be referring to Mio as a girl from now on, because that is what she is)

There will be more about these three later. You have been warned.

Prosper my precious darlings! I adore you!


	24. Family Picture

"Oh, it looks wonderful on you Kyoko-chan!" Maria gushed, taking yet another picture of the newly graduated genin. Kyoko adjusted her new forehead protector, not yet used to the strange weight of it, and blushed. The other students around her were being showered with praise by their parents, some of them grumbling and others beaming, and Kyoko just barely stopped herself from doing the latter. She might have loved the attention the woman was giving her, but there was no need for Maria or her father to know that.

"Yeah. I guess." She mumbled, looking at her father from the corner of her eye. He was smirking down at her and when he saw she was peeking at him he reached out and ruffled her hair, messing up the two perfect pigtails she had painstakingly worked on for the special occasion.

"Good job." He said, pride hidden under a layer of his usual bored attitude. But Kyoko heard it and hid the grin on her face.

"Yeah, sure."

"Okay you three, let's do a big happy family picture! Asuma, don't roll your eyes at me, just get over there and stand next to your sister like you love her. Yes, I mean it. Stop making that face and -Shika, try and look a little enthused. After all, your baby girl just graduated! Hey now, don't _you _roll your eyes too. You could at least pretend to be an adult." She lifted the camera up and smiled, a bundle of energy like usual. "Okay, now everyone! Big smiles! And-"

"Wait!" Kyoko said, making the woman pause and her brother sigh as he figured out that this would take a _lot_ longer than he wanted it to.

"What is it?" Maria asked the girl, confused as to what would be wrong with what she had thought was going to be an adorable little picture.

"You have to be in it too." The girl declared. Maria smiled at her, fingers nervously fiddling with the camera. "Now Kyoko, I don't think that-"

"You said it's a family picture, and you're family. Plus, it's my day so you technically have to do what I say."

"But-"

"Come on," Shikamaru said, waving her over. "Give the camera to someone and get over here so we can get this over with. So troublesome." He grumbled.

Maria found herself blinking away tears, turning quickly so that they wouldn't see how much this little photo meant to her. "Hey, sorry," She said to a nearby woman, "Could you please take a picture for us?"

She got in behind the kids and beside Shikamaru, putting one of her arms around Kyoko to pull the girl to her so that they could squeeze in tighter, her other hand on Asuma's shoulder.

"Alright!" The smiling stranger said, "Say cheese!"

Maria and Kyoko were the only ones to comply, the men of the family having _far_ too much dignity to think of doing such a thing. The light flashed and the woman handed the camera back to Maria, smiling. "You have such a lovely family." She offered, and Maria just couldn't help it anymore.

"Oh my! Are you alright?" She panicked and Maria waved her away, smiling watery at her. "Yes, sorry. It's just... I suppose the flash was a bit bright." She sniffled, wiping away the few tears that had escaped.

* * *

In case you didn't get it, she's crying because she's happy.

Why? Because she absolutely loves these three and they're her family in her heart, and this is the first time that she feels that her little dream of them being together is finally coming true.

Some of you might not want to like Maria because she's the one Shikamaru is moving on with when Temari is being held captive, but this woman is loving and kind and is in every sense of the word but one Kyoko's and Asuma's mother.

I've fallen in love with her character, and I really want to make her happy, so she get's her family. Though you don't have to fear if you hate Maria, this is an advertised ShikaTema fic.

This was just a little thing so that I could get all of my thoughts straightened out because it seems Kathy has gone on a vacation, though she'll be back soon!

You're all so beautiful that the sun isn't setting at night, it's actually hiding it's face in shame because it can't stand to try and outshine you for even one more minute.

I love you all!


	25. Monkey Buisness

Introducing (drum roll please): The children of InoCho!

* * *

"Ringo! Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Where's out? What are you doing?" Ringo rolled her eyes and wrinkled her nose at her sister, striding hurriedly across the grass to try and get away from the sheer annoyance behind her.

"Anzu, just be quiet. Anyways, why do you care?" Anzu heavily blew the breath out of her cheeks, glaring at her elder sister's back.

"Because you're wearing a dress."

"That's a really stupid reason to follow me around and growl at me."

"No, not when you always manage to completely destroy them. Mom left me in charge of that dress and I am _not _letting you out of my sight." Ringo laughed at the pitiful thought of being forced to watch a _dress_ of all things and shoved the fly away hairs that swatted at her face, annoyed that her mother had forced her leave it down out of its usual ponytail. What she really wanted to do was cut it so that she wouldn't have to mess with it anymore, but her mother wouldn't let her do that either because, according to her mother short hair wasn't feminine.

But Ringo hated femininity, so they were currently at an impasse.

Anzu could see where they were going now and narrowed her eyes threateningly. "Ringo, if you even dareto think about doing anything to that dress I'll hurt you. I'll hurt you _bad._" Ringo laughed again at the threat.

"Puh-lease. Like you could do anything to me."

"Ringo..."

"Sissy! Sissy!" They turned, watching their three year old sister scramble to catch up to them, tripping and stumbling up the slight hill, puffing when she finally got to them. "Sissy! I snuck out like you told me to!" She declared proudly, her curled pigtails practically bobbing with her excitement. Ringo grinned broadly down at her, proud.

"Great job, midget! Let's go have some fun away from all of those fuddy duddies." Anzu narrowed her eyes at her as they started walking again.

"Ringo, they're not _'fuddy duddies'_. They're respectable adults who came here for the same wedding we did."

"_We_ were actually forced to come here against our will. Our parents were the ones who wanted to come, and I think Dad only came for the food." Ringo walked up to the large tree she had spotted on their way into the church and grabbed onto a thick branch just above her head, swinging up and kicking off the absurdly pinchy shoes that had been forced on her feet.

"RINGO!" Anzu shouted, watching as her sister played monkey in the tree. Momo giggled and raised her arms up.

"Me too! I wanna play too!" She cried out. Ringo flipped over so she was hanging by her knees and held her hands out, grasping her baby sister's hands to swing her up beside her. The three year old screamed with delight as she flew, grasping onto the branch as her legs dangled down, holding on desperately and grinning.

Anzu sighed. "That was dangerous." She said, but Ringo merely grinned down at her.

"Oh, come on Anzu, have a bit of fun! Come up here and join us!"

Anzu smoothed down the skirt of her dress, pressing her lips together. "I'm wearing my new dress so I can't get it dirty, and I don't want to split my hose." Ringo pulled a face.

"You don't want to tear your hose? How old do you think you are? Thirty?"

"I'm six." She grumbled, causing Ringo to grin down at her in triumph.

"That's my point! Now stop acting stupid and play in the tree with us like the kid you are. Be free Anzu, _be free._"

Anzu rolled her eyes and reached up for her sister's hands so she could pull her up beside her. "Fine, but I'm not going to do anything that could ruin my clothes."

They played, swinging from branches and shimmying up and down the trunk, giggling and trying to focus their chakra so they could attempt to walk over and up the tree.

They were all three on the same branch when it suddenly began to creak and crack, alerting them to the inevitable fall. Ringo jumped up and held onto the branch above her with her hands, quickly twisting her legs around Momo and lifting her up just as the branch dropped down, the three year old holding on desperately to her waist. "Anzu, you okay?" Ringo called down, arms quivering as she tried to hold both herself and her sister.

"Yeah, I jumped."

"Tuck and roll?"

"What," She snorted, "Do you think I'm stupid? I don't have the skills to do any actual landings yet." The girl sighed, struggling to sit up and check herself over. "Oh no!" She yelped, causing Ringo to crane her head to try and see the girl.

"What? What?"

"My stockings! They're ruined! And my dress!" She fingered a tear and groaned in anguish, though Ringo only chuckled.

"Girls!" Ringo didn't know whether to whimper in defeat or cry in relief at the familiar voice. "Mom!" She cried out, watching from the corner of her eye as Ino hurried to them, easily eating up the distance between them in mere seconds, even in her heels on the grass.

"Hurry and take Momo, I don't think I can hold her for too much longer." Ino took her youngest child, stepping back so Ringo could drop down, rubbing her sore arms.

"What do you girls think you were doing?" Ino cried, checking them over for any injuries as she berated them. "You could have gotten hurt -and your dresses! Girls, you know I wanted for you to have at _least_ one dress outfit survive a single night." She shook her head and grabbed Ringo's arm, ignoring her wince. "Come on. We have to get you home before anyone at the reception sees you three and wonders at who raised you ruffians."

Ringo grinned at her, ignoring Anzu's aggravated grumbling and moans. "Mom, guess what? I was able to focus my chakra enough to walk over halfway up the tree!"

"Well," She grumbled, wondering how her attempts of raising a perfect and sweet little girl had produced Ringo, the child who always had skinned knees and bandages all over, her clothes always dirty, torn and grass stained even if they were the few pretty little dresses and skirts Ino had ever forced the girl to wear. "Isn't that just _great_."

* * *

My friend has just started reading, so a really quick shout out to her: Missssssssyyyyyyy! I looooooooove yoooooooou!

Moving on now.

Just a short little something to introduce you to the family.

I love you all! You rock my world!


	26. What is a Mother?

Asuma watched as the clouds floated by slowly from the spot he was laying at on the hill, and as he watched one particularly slow one go idly about its path he sighed heavily, his eyes unfocusing as he began to worry over the turbulent thoughts that swam through his head.

"Hey, mister down-in-the-dumps, what's got you all gloomy?" He turned his head to look at Ringo where she was sitting beside him, leaning back on her elbows as she lay sprawled out in a most unladylike fashion.

"How do you feel about your mother?" He asked her instead of answering her question, not that the brunet minded though. She knew that they'd eventually get to what was worrying him.

Ringo pulled a face as she thought his question over. "Well... She's always trying to force me to do all of this girly stuff with her which is really annoying, and she's always yelling at me when I get my clothes dirty or tear them up. She nags me about really stupid stuff and she yells _way _too much, plus she worries about things she doesn't need to worry about." She leaned forward to sit Indian style, idly scratching a scab that was on her elbow.

"But how I feel about her? I love her. She might do all of that stuff and sure, it's annoying, but she only does it because she cares about me. And I guess I do give her some things to worry about, though it always comes out alright in the end." She looked down at Asuma and saw that he was looking up at the sky with the most melancholy expression she had ever seen.

Wanting to get that look and whatever feelings that had brought it on out of her best-friend she dove at him and landed on his stomach, making the poor boy wince in pain as her elbows caught him in a few sensitive spots. She propped herself up on him -ignoring his grunts of pain and discomfort- and looked down at him.

"Why? Are you missing your mom?" She asked, making him pause and shake his head.

"No... I actually don't really remember her. I sometimes remember the way she felt when she hugged me really tightly and sometimes her laugh or the way she called my name, but the only real picture I have of her that doesn't come from the photos we have is of her waving good bye when she left."

He sighed again, looking up at the passing clouds and actually finding comfort in the weight of Ringo on top of him. "But... I guess... If I actually try and think of 'my mom' I end up thinking about Maria."

"She's always so happy and she's always smiling, and she's always there when any of us need her. She's warm and kind, even when she's mad at us, and she does everything with us that a regular mother does. She scolds us, tells us to pick up the things we wouldn't bother with if she wasn't there, she never yells no matter how mad she gets, and when she looks at us sometimes you can just see in her eyes how much she loves us."

He looked down into the clear blue eyes of his closest confidant and frowned. "Am I a bad person for thinking that?" _For forgetting her?_ Was the question he asked her silently. Ringo shook her head.

"No. You can never be a bad person just for loving someone." She smiled at him, not her usual unrestrained grin, but a softer smile that she seldom showed to people.

"I look like her, and I think that makes me feel guilty too."

"Why?"

"Because it must hurt them to look at me and see something like that; Dad because he misses her and Maria because it might feel like she's looking at the person she's replacing."

"_Is_ she replacing someone?"

He shrugged. "I don't really know. She's Maria, and when I look at her all I see is Maria, but what about what Dad sees? Or Kyoko? She remembers our mother better than I do." Ringo sat up and reached over to lightly knock her fist against his head, her face stern.

"You're being rude to a person who freely loves you by saying such disrespectful things. If you think of her as even having a chance of being only a replacement then that's what she'll be, and that's something no one ever wants to be." Asuma nodded, seeing her point.

"Now then!" She said, jumping up and shaking off the serious mood in favor of her usual playful one. "Let's go do something fun! We're ten, we should be enjoying these few years of freedom and development, not sit here having serious conversations with depth and meaning!" Asuma smiled at her and took the hand she offered him so she could pull him up.

They started walking down the hill and Ringo playfully dug her elbow into Asuma's side. "You must be right about the whole _'looking like her'_ thing, though. You do have a really girly face." She teased. Asuma glared at her as she hit one of his sore points.

"Ringo!"

"Sorry Asu-chan!" She called out as she started running down the hill and away from him. "I was just pointing out a fact!" He growled and raced after the laughing girl.

"I've told you a million times not to call me that! We're not little kids anymore!" And they raced away, leaving their doubts and worries behind them on the hill.

* * *

Asuma and Ringo! Awww!

I just wanted to write this and maybe one or two more before the Temair bit, and to actually introduce you to Asuma. Oh, and he is a really cute boy, but he isn't all that girly looking.

And everyone called him Asu-chan when he was growing up because he was just so cute!

The stars only come out at night so that they can look down at how amazing and beautiful you all are! I love you!


	27. A Locked Away Gift, MisaLee

Misaki closed her eyes and crossed her fingers and then even her toes, wishing as hard as she had ever wished before for her suspicions to be true. Cracking open an eye she peeked down at the little white stick on the bathroom counter and slumped back, defeated.

"Not pregnant." She mumbled, tossing the useless test into the waste basket.

She had really thought, really_really _thought, that this time she had been right and that she was pregnant. But, just as with all the other times before, the little stick had proven her hunches wrong. She shuffled out of the bathroom and into the living room as her depression stuck to her every step of the way, sighing she opened the little aquarium and started shaking in the food for the little turtle she and Lee kept.

"I thought that I'd have some good news to give Lee when he got home, Gomo-chan. I mean, we haven't been using protection for nearly two years now." She sighed and kept on shaking the food in, creating a little mountain that the turtle lazily approached. "Maybe I'll go see a doctor and see if there's anything that can help, like something I can eat. Yeah! I'll go make an appointment." She smiled down at the turtle and then tilted her head a bit, confused.

"Huh. I think the cup is broken, Gomo-chan. That's _way_ too much food. I guess I'll just grab you some more when I go out to the doctors." She said, smiling down at the poor helpless animal.

* * *

Misaki looked up at the doctor when he came into the room, her legs crossed prettily at her ankles as she looked every bit the lady she was. He walked around his desk and sat down, lacing his fingers together over her file before gazing at the woman with serious eyes. Misaki, not noticing his mood, smiled sweetly at him.

"Hello again, Doctor. I'm surprised were meeting in your office. Really, all I expected were you to give me a few pamphlets and then we'd both be on our way, but I suppose it is nice that you take more interest in your patients."

"Rock-san."

"Hmm?" She questioned, smiling a little brighter just as she always did when people called her that, the doctor nearly flinching back at just how happy and care free the woman looked.

"How old are you, may I ask?" She blinked, a bit puzzled.

"Ah, nearly twenty-three. But that should be in my file, shouldn't it?" He nodded, sadly thinking about how young the girl was.

"And your husband?"

"Thirty-three, and we've been married for two years now. Why?" The doctor sighed and braced himself for the inevitable backlash his words would bring.

"I'm sorry, Rock-san, but I'm afraid you are not able to become pregnant." Misaki blinked, her entire face going blank as she tightened her grip on the strap of her purse.

"I'm sorry? Could I ask what you mean?" The doctor looked into her eyes and wished he hadn't as soon as he saw how utterly blank they were.

"Your body is not able to produce or carry a child. On the off chance that you _do_ become pregnant your body would attack the fetus as if it were a virus, though this is very unlikely since the chances of you getting pregnant are about the same as mine."

Misaki slowly nodded, her face staying as perfectly blank as a porcelain doll's. "I see. Thank you for your time." She said, holding out her hand so she could shake hands respectably with the doctor.

"Rock-san, we can discuss other options such as getting a surrogate. This isn't something that can stop you from having a family." She smiled at him, bowing slightly. "No, that's quite all right. Thank you though."

She walked gracefully from the room and out of the building, her back straight and her head high just as she had been taught since childhood. When her neighbors called out to her on the street she nodded politely, smiling a smile that was so beautiful and elegant that it caught peoples' breath. Her steps were light as she walked up the stairs to the apartment she and Lee shared and her smile never slipped as she unlocked the door and stepped into the empty apartment.

Remembering that Lee had told her he could be home from his mission that night she went to the kitchen and started on supper, calmly cutting up the vegetables for the chicken stir fry and making the rice. She only stepped out of the kitchen long enough to change into her pajamas and feed Gomo, but when she came in the chicken was sticking to the bottom of the blackened pan and the rice was a giant mushy glob. She turned the knobs for the burners off, leaving the pans on the stove as she went to the bathroom.

She went about her normal nightly routine as she washed her face and used the toilet, and was washing her hands when she looked up and met her eyes in the mirror.

Reaching her hand up she traced the shape of her face, lightly touching the mole under her left eye and brushing her fingers over her soft skin and the sharp aristocratic features of her face. One of her hands drifted down and brushed lightly through a bit of her red tinted brown hair, continuing its wanderings down her chest to finally rest on her flat stomach. Her hand fisted in her shirt as she met her clouded navy blue eyes in the mirror again and she just couldn't keep it in any more.

She fisted her other hand and hit the mirror, the water on her hand splattering out and distorting the perfect image. She wrapped her arms around her stomach as she fell to her knees, leaning forward so much that her forehead touched the cold tile of the floor as she sobbed.

She had been able to hold onto the pale porcelain mask of the refined lady that had been ingrained into her since birth, a mask that had locked her pain tightly inside of her and had given her the cold strength needed to face everything with a simple smile and elegance, but now it had shattered, the truth causing her to cry out in terrifyingly painful agony.

She would never feel her child grow inside of her, never feel the thrill of that first kick or the pained glory of that final push. She would never hear it cry out for her at night, needing the comfort that could only come from her touch. She would never release those tiny fists as it wobbly took those first steps away from her or hold out her arms as it ran back to her so she could calm its tears. She would never feel the pain or the joy or the tears that could come from a simple word it would say or a passing look it would give her.

She would never be a mother.

She shook her head, pushing against the tile so much that it hurt, though such a shallow pain couldn't compare to the one that was shredding her soul.

Eventually her tears ran dry and she was left coughing and hacking, her throat tight and burning from her sobs and cries. She rubbed the drying tears from her face, her breath still shuddering and her whole body trembling and weary from sheer exhaustion, her muscles weighted from all of the feelings the tears had dragged out of her, leaving a mere husk of a woman to stumble out of the bathroom.

Finger tips lightly dragging over the wall she walked to the bedroom, crawling into bed to curl into a little ball in the middle of it as if to protect herself from more pain. She reached out and grabbed Lee's pillow, pulling it to her and breathing in deeply to absorb the calming and masculine scent of her husband.

How would she tell him? Could she tell him? She knew he loved her and that he hadn't married her for her body or the children it would bear, but being a mother had been the only thing she had been sure of.

She burned nearly everything she cooked and what she didn't burn was usually deformed or tasted terrible. She was lucky that Lee's taste buds had apparently died long ago because he always ate all of her meals, even saying that they were good after he ate. She was terrible at house work, always breaking something and leaving streaks of dust behind and she was always shrinking clothes in the wash, no matter how diligently she thought she had read the tags. She knew she was a terrible house wife and that Lee could have done better, but she had been so sure that she could be a mother and that they would all be happy as a family.

But now that dream had been smashed to dust, a mere memory left to drift away on the wind.

* * *

Misaki woke up at the feeling of the bed dipping with added weight. Keeping her eyes squeezed shut she felt Lee brush her hair back, burying her face farther into his pillow so he couldn't see her tear ravaged face. "Did you really miss me that much?" He asked, joking about the way she desperately clutched his pillow. She nodded.

God, she had missed him. Four weeks was such a long time for him to be gone, one of the longest missions he had taken since their marriage, and all she wanted to do was throw her arms around him and hold him close, letting him keep the monsters away.

But she didn't. She couldn't.

She felt him get up to go shower and change for bed, slipping in behind her and spooning with her, wrapping his arms around her and settling in just as they always did, though there was a tension flowing between them that had never been there before. One that was all her fault. She wanted to turn around and hold him back, to whisper her worries to him and have him sooth them just as he always did, but she didn't. Instead she peeled open the eyes that had been glued shut with the last hidden tears that had rocked her to sleep and stared bleakly at the wall.

"I have to go to my Aunt's place for a little while." She croaked.

"When?"

"In the morning."

He could have asked why she didn't wait until they had had a few days together, he could have asked her to stay. He could have asked her to do any number of things and she would have done them but he was too wonderful of a man to do so, and so he simply wished her good luck on her trip.

* * *

Shijimi smiled over the rim of her teacup at her niece as the girl finished telling her some story of one of her husband's exploits, happy to see the girl though the feeling was tainted by the hollow look in the girl's eyes. She knew the mask the girl wore, she knew it far better than anyone else since she had been there when her sister had taught it to her. Shijimi sat her tea down gently before lacing her fingers together in her lap, ready to get to the bottom of things now that pleasantries were over with.

"It's wonderful to have you here, dear, but I have to ask why you're here when you should be at home with your husband. Marriage troubles?" Misaki shook her head.

"No, that's not it. It's... I went to the doctor yesterday and... Auntie, I found out I can't have children." Tears welled up painfully in her eyes as she stared to her Aunt for guidance. "What am I supposed to do? How can I tell him?"

Shijimi nodded. "So it is marriage problems." Misaki blinked, puzzled at how her aunt had gotten there after she had expressly told her _no_.

"Our marriage is fine, didn't you hear what I said?"

"Oh, I did. You said you can't tell your husband that you can't have children and it's because you don't love each other and the only thing keeping the marriage together is the fact that he thinks you're fertile."

"What? No! It isn't like that! We love each other Auntie!"

"Then why can't you tell him?"

Misaki blinked and lowered her head to stare at her hands where they rested on the table. "I... What if it changes things? Like the way he thinks about me?" Shijimi picked up her cup and sipped, merely watching the girl.

"What if he stops loving me because we can't have a family? What if it gets so that he can't look at me because he sees that I've taken all of that happiness away from him?"

"Were we wrong to allow you to marry that man? Is he really so shallow?" Misaki's shoulders began to quiver as she shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"He's not, but what if I am?" She choked out, fisting her hands together so tightly that her nails dug into her skin. Shijimi looked to the pitiful girl and then out over the garden they were sitting in, watching the path of a butterfly as it danced over the flowers.

"I married your uncle in an arranged marriage when I was sixteen." She started, causing the girl's head to jerk up in surprise at the sudden change in topic. "Neither of us were ready but our parents were, so we were pushed into it so fast that we were left reeling in the aftermath. But we were happy together, eventually. We became friends and gradually came to love each other, and I suppose we fit each other. He gives in so easily and is never really decisive, whereas I am... '_flamboyant and opinionated'_, I do believe I've heard people say. And just as we came to love each other someone went to poison him, though the plate was accidentally given to me instead of him. I was in bed in a coma for nearly two weeks as it tore my body apart, and though the doctors saved me the poison left me barren, any chance at a child eaten by it."

"Auntie..." Misaki breathed, her heart going out to the woman, but Shijimi shook her head at the girl.

"It took me such a long time for me to tell him and afterward we tiptoed around each other, unsure of what was proper to say in such a situation. But one day we woke up and even though that piece of our future was gone we found that we could still joke with each other and still love each other and I found other things to love. Like you. You're the daughter we couldn't have, and we are so thankful for you." She leaned forward so that she was grasping the girl's hands tightly, squeezing them as she tried to give the girl strength with her words.

"Misaki, nothing will end just because you find yourself unable to receive a gift that everyone else can. All you have to do is find the gifts that have been made just for you and open them with love and happiness. If you do that then everything will be fine."

Misaki thought back to her words as she stood in front of the door to the apartment, praying she was right. She opened the door and was met with the sight of Lee doing his usual exercises that he did to pass the time, currently in the middle of doing full body pushups with one hand. He flipped over when he saw her and smiled, pleasantly surprised. "I thought you would be gone longer than-" He was cut off when she suddenly dashed across the room to wrap her arms around him and hold on tightly.

"Misaki-"

"Hold me." She demanded, wanting to feel his security and strength before she sat him down and told him the truth. And as they stood there for those few silent moments, wrapped in each other's arms, Misaki could feel the sterling truth throughout every bone in her body.

No matter what, as long as they faced it together, they would be just fine.

* * *

No, I'm not going to tell you how she tell him. Why? Because I'm evil like that.

No, it's actually just because it ends better like this.

And there is one more actual part to their story after this, so that may be next.

Oh, and Kathy's back! I'm so happy! I was actually going to type up the Temari bit but suddenly Kathy kicked down the door, looked me over and said, "Bitch, what do you think you're doing? Shut up and let me drive."

So there are a few parts that I have to get through before Temari (sorry), but it's all practically written in my head. Kathy just won't let me type it.

I love you all so much that I'm staying up so much that I'm sleep deprived just to give this stories to you.


	28. A Sudden Proposal, NejiTen

I am so sorry that this took so long to update (It's been what, 5 days?)! My poor baby (my laptop) got a virus!

It was some scam that blocked all of my programs and said that my laptop was being watched by the FBI and I needed to pay $200 dollars to get it working correctly.

They didn't even spell government right. It was kind of insulting that they thought I'd fall for it.

This one is one I came up with just for my dearest and most beloved reader, xaburame15. He always comments and is such a precious darling when he compliments me. It makes me feel so happy to know that you are reading and enjoying the stories so much, and I smile every time you leave a comment.

So when you asked for NejiTen, i ran to my laptop and started typing you up a story, and when my computer was on life support I went out and found another one that I had to fight with endlessly, just to bring this to you.

* * *

Tenten just couldn't figure out how it had happened. Really, when looking back on everything it was almost as if someone had been purposely screwing with them because there was no way everything could have gotten the way it was without tampering from someone or something.

She had been given a simple mission: find the girl, grab the girl, take the girl, get out with the girl. Saving a rich boy's girlfriend from some kidnapper was not that big of a deal.

But oh, it had turned into the hugest deal.

"When are we getting out of here?" Tenten closed her eyes and tried to remember why on earth she was stuck in this little hut with a pathetic excuse of a girl who had to be the most annoying being she had ever met.

She had grabbed the girl from where she was being held -some mafia's base, the boss having become infatuated with the girl for some unknown and ungodly reason- but the stupid girl had started complaining as soon as she had gotten her out of the house and had alerted the guards. Unable to fight all of them off alone and with a civilian Tenten had opted to run, though a sudden and violent storm had forced them to take shelter in a hut they had happened upon.

It had been an absolute hell for both parties involved.

"Miss ninja, I asked you a question! Are you ignoring me?"

"To the best of my abilities." Though there was no way to possibly _not _hear that screeching and whiny childlike, nails on chalkboard voice.

"Well, I never! I'll have you know that you are _hired _help and that I can-" Tenten was about to throw the job out of the window and just kill the bitch when she heard the flat silence that lay thick outside beneath the rain. She held up a hand to shush the girl and hissed.

"Quiet! Do you hear that?" The girl tilted her head and wrinkled her brow in concentration.

"I don't hear anything. Are you just trying to get me to be quiet?" Tenten shook her head knowing that the lack of sound, no matter what it was or wasn't, was bad.

"Listen to me _Princess_, you may not like me all that much right now but you seem to dislike the people searching for you more, so you're going to have to shut up and let me get you out of here and out of my hair alive so I can get this job done." The girl reluctantly nodded and conceded her point, though she didn't look all that happy about it. Ignoring the pouting girl Tenten quickly cut her thumb and swiped it on the paper scroll she had pulled from her pocket, summoning a dog sized purple turtle.

"Ah, Ten-chan! I am-" Tenten held up her hand. "Yeah, sure, let's get to that later. Right now I need you to take this girl and get her to Konoha."

"I'm not big enough to take the both of you."

"Yeah, she'll be going by herself. I'll stay here and fight them off so you can get her out of here." The turtle slowly bobbed its head. "Okay, Ten-chan. If you're sure."

"Thanks." She turned to the girl who was looking at the giant talking purple turtle as if it were... A giant talking purple turtle. "You. Get on the turtle."

"What?"

"The turtle. Get on it. It'll get you to safety so that you'll be out of my way." The girl shook her head stubbornly.

"Ah, no."

"On the turtle. Now."

"I'm sorry," She snorted, flipping her hair over her shoulder, "You must have heard me wrong. I said _no,_ and I meant it. Now, find a better mode of transportation, because I am not sitting on some vile amphibian."

"Actually, angry mean lady, I'm a reptile." The turtle protested and was ignored, not even appearing phased that he had just been called vile.

Tenten narrowed her eyes at the girl and grabbed her, tossing her atop the back of the turtle's shell. "Why you...!" She gasped but Tenten merely smiled and waved goodbye as she and the turtle disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Tenten sent up a prayer of relieved thanks, happy that she had gotten rid of the worst and most annoying problem so that now she only had to face the more minor ones that were approaching. She turned, getting her scrolls ready for the attack that would surely be at the door in mere moments.

Just as the attackers stepped into the little clearing, thinking that the rain had given them enough cover so that they still had the element of surprise, Tenten stepped out of the hut and flicked her scrolls open, her weapons flying up and defying gravity, allowing her to leap forward and take out three with some kunai in the space of a heartbeat.

It was a hard fight, the rain and mud working against them as they fought, the enemy continuing to come even as Tenten decimated the first few lines of attackers. But soon she was running low on her seemingly endless supply of weapons, panting as the water and mud weighed her down and the rain lashed at her eyes and tried to distort her vision. Grabbing her last weapons she leaped back into the hut, taking shelter from the rain and knowing that if they tried to come in here at least she'd have the upper hand.

But no one attempted to approach, and as the minutes dragged on Tenten began to suspect that something was going on and that she should probably get back outside and maybe try and make a run for it since her speed would be better than theirs now that she was rid of the priss.

But as she took her first step something was tossed into the room, a small round ball that would easily fit in the palm of her hand. Smoke filled the room, spilling from the orb, and Tenten jumped for the door, reaching out to push it open and let some much needed air into the room, even if the enemy came with it. But just as her fingers brushed against the wood of the door everything blurred and she fell to the ground, murky black unconsciousness quickly swallowing her whole.

* * *

When she awoke to the throbbing headache, it was to a scene not many people would expect when being forced unconscious and then taken away. It was not to a cell but to a room decorated in the purest white and gaudy gold, with her lying in a large canopy bed where wisps of thin cloth floated down from bedposts, the white silk sheets beneath her smooth against her skin.

Tenten jerked up quickly, kneeling in the center of the bed as she took in her situation.

Someone had apparently undressed her and then changed her into some little white nightgown that was only silk and thin wisps of lace that floated down to brush at her thighs. Her hair had been taken down and brushed out so that it tumbled down to her waist, her wrists cuffed together behind of her and then chained to one of the posts of the bed. She was clean, smelled like something overpowering and flowery, and was utterly disgusted.

What kind of sick bastard did something like this? _Undressing _her? _Bathing _her? Any normal captor would have just thrown her in some cell to rot, but this one was some kind of a sick pervert that apparently got his jollies off on doing whatever all of _this_ was.

The locks in the door turned and the door opened revealing several black suited men who parted way to reveal yet another man, this one in a white suit. He was obviously someone of importance, his cocky attitude and humongous ego filling the room until Tenten felt as if she were suffocating on them and the floral cologne he apparently bathed in.

His bleached teeth rivaled the brightness of Gai's and Lee's together and his dark brown hair was slicked back with gel into a tidy and pompous looking hairstyle. His stylish white suit was well tailored and fit him nicely, though the absurdity of someone being that infatuated by a color hurt her eyes. His pointed shoes were flawlessly shined and his gold tie was perfectly tied, everything perfectly tucked and placed.

Tenten supposed he was handsome in a slick sort of way, but she had never been more disgusted when his eyes touched upon her and lit up like a child who had been presented with the largest present at Christmas.

"Ah! Lady ninja, I'm so glad you woke up without any complications."

"Are you now?"

He grinned and nodded eagerly. "Oh yes!" Tenten blinked warily at the man, knowing that an unpredictable psychopathic enemy and captor was far more dangerous than a sane one.

"You see, I was a bit angry at you stealing away my bride to be and was going to torture and kill you when they brought you back, but when I saw you I knew that the fates had brought us together and meant for you to be my one and only. Obviously beauty and strength far outreaches breeding, and she was just a troublesome child whereas I can see that you are a beautiful woman." Tenten blinked at the man.

"I'm sorry?"

"It's obvious that you were the one that was meant for me all along, and think about what you will gain by becoming mine! This mansion and all my others, all the material things that you could ever hope for, money and anything your little heart could wish for." He sat down on the bed and reached his hand out to sit it on her bare thigh. "What do you say?"

She smiled softly at him, "What do I say? There's obviously only one thing _to_ say." The smile was tossed away as she replaced it with a glare, falling to her side as she kicked her leg out and aimed for the sick bastard's head. He fell down to the floor, just barely dodging the concussion causing attack, staring up at the girl as she bared her teeth at him, glaring at him through the hair that had fallen in front of her face.

"Hell no! What do you think I am, you sick freak? Like I could be bought with some green paper and an ugly house, and don't you _dare_ try and touch me again or else I'll show you why my boyfriend doesn't even touch me without fearing for his life!" He blinked at her a moment before grinning, standing up and brushing himself off.

"I hope that that fire continues to burn when you calm down enough to see how right I am about all of this. I find it quite... stimulating." He reached out to her, chuckling when Tenten jerked back and hissed.

"I will be back to see you soon, my lovely flower." He said, turning and taking his men and leaving. After struggling with the cuffs for almost an hour and determining that she couldn't get out of them by herself Tenten blew her hair out of her eyes and tried to flip it over her shoulder, furious that he had not only tied her up where she couldn't use her hands but had also taken her hair down so that it could annoy the hell out of her. Really, she should probably hack it all off when she got home, but the only thing was that Neji got such a kick out of it when she wore it down and dressed sexy for him.

Crossing her legs beneath her she tried to settle in and get comfortable to wait for her man to come and get her.

* * *

"My lady, I have come to inform you of a most momentous occasion!" The psychopath cried, throwing the door open and beaming at Tenten. She glared wearily at him, tired from having to deal with him and his complete lunacy for four days straight.

He strode to the bed and sat down by her, rubbing one of his hands up and down her arm and growing more confident when she didn't fight him off like she usually did, though the only reason that she didn't was so that he could get close enough so she could do some serious physical harm.

"I have found a preacher to bless our union! He will be by tonight along with nearly three hundred guests who will look upon the two of us with envy. Your dress is being brought in by some attendings who will help you bathe and dress, and your hair and face will be done by the most professional of artists." He leaned in a little bit closer, nearly overwhelming Tenten with his absurdly feminine and floral cologne.

"Well? What do you say?" Tenten tossed her hair back with a flick of her head, making sure some of the strands slapped the bastard in the face like she so desperately wanted to.

"I say that this is the most desperate and sad plan I have ever heard. Really Looney, is the only way you can get a woman? I mean, you're not that bad looking of a man. Maybe it's the perfume, though. Most women don't want to be with a man who smells girlier than them." He blinked and she smirked at him, wanting him just a bit closer so she could get in just one good head-butt and break the man's nose.

"Or maybe it's the whole white and gold thing. Picking two colors that makes very few people look good is really-" She was cut off when he moved and pinned her down suddenly, her shoulders forced back into a horribly painful position as her arms -which were still cuffed behind her back- forced her to arch up. He was in between her legs, forcing them apart and wide so that she couldn't kick him, fisting his hand in her hair and pulling so hard that she saw stars.

"I am," He growled, his eyes dangerously flat, like a shark that was swimming towards its bleeding and floundering prey, "Growing weary of this attitude of yours. I found it cute at first but now it's like the annoying yap of some small dog that refuses to just shut up. So because I think I'll find you cute when you're quiet, I'm going to muzzle you." He pulled back on her hair until her vision was filled with spots and her mouth gaped open on a gasp of pain, and then he attacked.

The force of his mouth on hers was almost painful, the slide of his tongue making its way into her mouth revolting, making her gag. Her teeth cut into the inside of her lips from where he pressed down so hard, the blood filling her mouth and mixing with the foul minty taste of the man who was forcing himself on her.

Tenten bucked, trying to force him off of her, but the position she was forced in didn't allow it and he was surprisingly strong. His hand left her shoulder to instead travel to her breasts, squeezing cruelly and forcing tears to fill her eyes which she held back desperately, not wanting to show such a weakness.

His mouth left hers and went to her throat, biting as he pulled on her hair even harder to reveal more of her throat to him. His hand left her breast to shove the hem of her nighty up to her stomach, pulling her panties out of the way to force his fingers into her savagely. Tenten's eyes went wide as she cried out against the brutal and unwanted intrusion.

He jerked back away from her, staring down at her with those dangerous eyes that suddenly turned kind and happy as her took in her appearance. He gently brushed away her hair from her face, smiling at her as she tried to keep the tears at bay and focus on the anger instead of the pain. "Don't fear, I won't go any further. I know how important the wedding night is to women." He slipped off of the bed and went to the door, looking back at her before smiling once more. "I look forward to tonight." He said, leaving the room and shutting the door gently behind him.

Tenten blinked up at the ceiling, keeping her tears away as her body screamed out in protest over the vile touch that that monster had forced on her. "Bastard!" She screamed out at the door, curling up on her side and glaring dry eyed at the door.

She wasn't going to give him her tears.

A few hours later four women came in and unhooked the chain from her cuffs, helping her into the bath as they poured oils over her and rubbed soaps into her skin. They stared at the violent red marks on her neck and shoulders and her swollen lips with sympathetic eyes, all of them understanding why she was here and the reason she was cuffed. One of the women with gentle eyes and a caring face softly and kindly touched one of the marks.

"It won't help everything, but we'll cover them with makeup so you won't have to see them." Tenten nodded and pressed her lips together. She wanted to lash out so badly, to try and escape from this place and the hell she'd have to go through if this whole thing went through, but these four women didn't deserve that or the backlash they'd receive if she escaped from them.

They helped her from the bath and pulled a strapless slip on her, obviously not allowed to take the cuffs off since she still had them on. She wondered if she was going to be walking down the aisle with them on. That would certainly be a conversation starter for the guests.

"We'll be back in about an hour; we need to grab the dress and makeup." Tenten felt her stomach curl in protest but nodded, sitting down on the window seat and pressing her forehead to the cool glass, glad that they hadn't chained her up again so that she at least this little bit of freedom.

The guests were arriving and Tenten watched through the rippled glass as they made their way up the walk, dressed in all their finery as they made their way into Tenten's prison to watch her get married to someone who didn't even know her name and was bat-shit crazy. The door creaked open behind her before closing quietly and Tenten felt a single tear slip down her cheek.

"It's about damn time you showed up, I was getting tired of waiting for you," She turned and couldn't decide whether to sob or smile at the sight of the man who stood before her. "Neji."

He was dressed up, obviously for the wedding so he could sneak in, and Tenten couldn't help but feel a tingle at how sexy he was, even under the circumstances. His black suit, black shirt and black tie should have made him look washed out and emo, but he looked stylish and all of the black made his white eyes almost look as if they were glowing.

Unable to contain her joy or relief at seeing her lover right in front of her after so long she pushed off of the window seat and ran at him, making him rock back at the force of her colliding with his chest, his arms coming to wrap around her while she wished she could do the same.

"Here," He murmured, going behind her and fiddling with the cuffs, hitting the weak points in the metal and locks so that they fell away. Tenten tried to move her now freed arms but the pain of doing so was almost overwhelming. "Hold on a minute." Neji said, sighing at her impatience.

He hit some of the points in her arms to take away the pain and help with the muscles and blood flow, slowly helping her move her arms to her sides so she could get used to the tingling. He turned her and gave her a once over, trying to see if there were any injuries, freezing when his eyes touched upon the hickeys on her throat and shoulders.

"I heard you were getting married." He said quietly, obviously trying to keep his control over his fury, and Tenten snorted, amused and annoyed at it all now that Neji was finally here with her.

"Yeah, Crazypants really swept me off my feet with all this romance." She looked at him and saw where his attention was focused. "Hey," She said, reaching up to cup his face in her hands. "I'm fine now that you're here." She was and she always would be as long as he was there to erase everything from her mind and body.

As if hearing her thoughts he picked her up and sat her on the bed, leaning over and kissing her. She felt his hands gently healing the marks that that man had forced on her, his kiss slowly soothing away the bad memories.

He leaned back after a few minutes, her wounds healed and his eyes hard as they looked around the room, though they softened when they touched upon her. "We need to go before someone comes to get you." He said, pulling the jacket to his suit off before slipping it over her shoulders. "Ready?" He asked, and she nodded, slipping her arms into the sleeves of the jacket and following him to the window as he forced it open, the two of them stepping out and climbing to the roof, not even minding the fact that they were on the third floor.

They ran, leaping from the roof and into the trees, racing over branches as they made their way back home to Konoha, not stopping until they were well over halfway there and far enough to not have to worry about anything other than resting to start again in an hour or so. Neji sat on one of the thicker branches, leaning against the trunk and watching as Tenten walked over to him and sat down, straddling his lap.

"Thank you for coming and getting me." She said, leaning forward to sink into yet another kiss, gentle and sweet.

Then his hands came up to tangle in her hair and Tenten felt the kiss become harder and hotter as she melted. "Where did he touch you?" He hissed, and Tenten brought his hand to her breast, closing her eyes as the pleasure rolled through her. She leaned her forehead on his shoulder, so undeniably thankful to be back with him where she knew she should always be.

"Here too," She whispered, taking his other hand to bring it to her core, wanting him to erase everything and make her remember only him. He paused, taking in what she was saying before continuing, burying his face into her neck as he slipped one of his fingers into her.

"Marry me." He whispered.

Tenten blinked, not really all that sure she had heard him right.

"What?"

"As soon as we get back, marry me. I don't want something like this to happen again where there's even a chance you can become someone else's. I want you to be mine and only mine." He twisted his finger, making Tenten gasp and arch, her eyes going wide. "So say yes."

It was the jealousy thing, and Tenten knew she should probably be upset that not only was he acting as if she was a possession but also because he was proposing while they were in a tree and in the middle of foreplay after saving her from a crazed lunatic. But she couldn't feel anything past the arousal and complete and utter joy. Because, damn it, it was pretty much perfect in her book.

"I'm already yours," She gasped, gripping his hair to tug his head from her neck so she could lean her forehead against his. "But yes, yes I'll marry you." She panted, pressing her lips against his to seal the deal with a kiss.

* * *

"Tenten! It's great that you're okay! Everyone was kind of-"

"Yeah, that's great Naruto. Listen, we need you to do something." Neji glared at her, his proper attitude probably upset that she had interrupted the Hokage, though Naruto went unphased.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, we need you to marry us."

He blinked at the two, scratching his head as he tried to figure out what she meant. "What?"

"As Hokage you have the power to perform any bonding or marital ceremonies, and we would like you to preform one for us." Naruto pulled a face.

"I see." He said, though obviously he didn't.

"Just find the book, say the words and get on with this whole thing." Tenten demanded, and this time Neji sighed and roughly rubbed his face, wondering how she could be acting like this when it came to them getting married, though he did want it to go a bit faster so he could get her back to the home they shared as soon as possible.

Naruto started rustling through cabinets and drawers, looking for something that would guide him through all of this. He vaguely remembered a book Tsunade had read from at his and Hinata's wedding, so he searched for that. "Don't you want to invite anyone? Lee or some family?" Tenten grimaced and looked at Neji.

"Lee and Gai will probably cry if we don't invite them." He nodded.

"I would also like to invite Hinata-sama so she can represent the family, and we do need witnesses."

"Just send the ANBU after them! They'll get them faster, and that way you two can just stay here." Naruto shouted, currently digging through some papers that had fallen under his desk to try and find the book to use with the ceremony. Neji rolled his eyes at the thought of using specially trained ninja to grab wedding guests but Tenten walked past him and did just that, not nearly as squeamish about the idea as Neji

It took around fifteen minutes for Naruto to find the book and by then everyone was there. Ino so she wouldn't pout about being left from the loop and Sakura for the same reason, Choji and Shikamaru because they had been with Ino, Lee and Gai since they were practically family, and Hinata because she was.

"Hey, Tenten, are you serious about this?" Sakura asked, her forehead knit in concern, and Tenten grinned.

"Oh yeah."

"What about you're dress? And a cake? And... everything else!" Tenten shrugged.

"Doesn't really matter to me, and anyways," She said, looking down at the knee length white slip she was wearing along with Neji's black suit jacket and her bare feet. "I think this looks pretty good."

"Wait!" Hinata gasped, hurrying in from where ever she had gone to as soon as she had heard what was going on. "Here," She said, putting two silver combs with sapphires in Tenten's hair. "Something old and blue from our side of the family." Tenten grinned, checking off the last of the two needed items with Neji's borrowed jacket and the new little white slip. Hinata stood over to the side and made a shooing motion with her hands, urging them to proceed.

The ceremony was quicker than most, Naruto skipping over some of the "Unnecessary" parts and winging it when he felt like it, making them laugh and solidifying the knowledge that _this_ was the right thing for them. "Now you're supposed to do the rings!" He said, closing the book since this and one more line was all that he felt was needed to be said on his part. The couple looked at each other, and then back at Naruto.

"Actually, this went a little fast and we didn't really have the time..."

"But I did." Hinata said, swooping in and saving the day, giving each of them the opposite ring. Seeing the puzzled looks Hinata blushed and shrugged. "I figured with how this was going you guys wouldn't have them and since I knew your sizes I got them on the way here. B-Being married to the Hokage has the advantage where if you ask you'll get what you need quickly." She said, her blush even more pronounced as she stepped back into her spot.

Tenten grinned up at Neji and decided to follow with the theme of the night and just wing it. "I've known you for years, and I might be one of the few people who have actually gotten to know you. I know you're picky, selfish, cold at times and amazingly possessive. You take forever to get around to saying what you really feel -which is why this whole thing is going to surprise the hell out of people- and you get mad pretty easily, though you hide it well. But you're also honorable, kind, loving, and the man that just saved me from probably the _craziest_ SOB I've ever met. All of this is why I love you and why I'm standing here and asking you to be mine and asking to be yours."

Neji smirked and figured he'd just go along with it as well. "I know you're loud, brash, easily excitable and just as easily infuriated. You have one of the largest hearts I've ever seen, one that easily accepts everyone and everything that you can care for. I know how sharp your wit is and how hard you try, how sweetly you care and how sarcastic your humor is. I know as much as a person who has been with you as long as I have could know about you, and I know that all of this is why I love you and want to learn more about you. I want to spend what is left of my life with you, and this is why I am standing here and asking for you to to be mine and to allow for me to be yours."

Gai and Lee were crying in the background, sobbing and spouting on about the beauty of youth, but everyone ignored them and instead focused on the beaming couple. Naruto clapped his hands and grinned, "Right, well, put on the rings and kiss and that will be it!" They did so, and though some of the guests rolled their eyes at how unconventional the whole ceremony was they couldn't deny that they just seemed to radiate happiness when Tenten pulled Neji closer to her to deepen the kiss, the act being met with laughter and cheers.

* * *

I know you said that Neji is your favorite and I'm sorry I couldn't do this from his point of view, but this is how it came out. But don't worry! The next NejiTen I do will focus on him more!

I hope you enjoyed it anyways!

In _"Feelings" _I said that they got married suddenly, and so... this was the sudden part (I mean, they didn't even have rings). They've been living together for a little while, but they haven't really talked about marriage.

Oh, and about Neji healing her. Tenten tried becoming a medic (I read this on Naruto wiki, so I'm sorry if I got it wrong, but blame wiki) but she didn't have the proper chakra control or something and just didn't have the skill for it. So I figure that Neji has basic training to heal minor wounds and the such in case they're in a pinch (because obviously Lee can't).

I love you all! Pinatas for everyone! (Mine's a unicorn.)


	29. Dog-Napper, KakaSaku

Sakura blew out a breath and looked to the clock for the third time in the past five minutes.

She was use to him being late -he was always late- but usually it was only by about an hour or so, not by three. She had even waited to start on dinner until the first hour had almost passed since she was so used to his aversion to punctuality, but now the steaks and potatoes were in the oven in a poor attempt to keep them warm and the mood of the night was shot.

Her doorbell rang and she was up and hurrying to the door before the chime had ended, though she stopped just before she jerked it open and frightened whoever was on the other side because it certainly wouldn't be Kakashi. He wouldn't ring the doorbell, even if he knew that he was in hot water with her for being so late to their dinner date. He would just walk right in with some strange and half-assed excuse, pretend like nothing had happened and would take her anger on with a small smirk and then somehow they'd end up in bed like they always did.

Sighing Sakura opened the door and looked around, puzzled when she didn't see anyone. "Down here." Grunted out a deep voice.

Looking down Sakura saw the smallest of Kakashi's ninken, the little pug Pakkun. "Pakkun? What's wrong?" He shifted and sat back, scratching behind his ear with his back leg.

"Ah, Kakashi sent me to tell you he can't come. A new mission called him away." Sakura nodded and sighed. She couldn't be upset with him about suddenly getting a mission -such was the life of a ninja- but she _was_ a little aggravated that he had waited three hours to say something and made her waste all that time and an entire meal.

She rubbed her face roughly, "Thanks Pakkun. I guess I'll just... throw out the food."

"That seems like a waste, it smells good." Pakkun grunted, turning to go since his task was done with. Sakura was just about to turn and close the door when an idea suddenly hit her.

"Hey, Pakkun! Wait!" The dog stopped and turned.

"Since it would be pretty bad to let all of the food go to waste, why don't you join me?" The dog blinked at her a moment before he almost seemed to shrug, making his way past her and into her apartment.

Sakura took a phone book and a throw pillow from the couch and sat them in one of the dining chairs, scooting the chair in for him after he had jumped up and then placing a warmed up plate and a dish of water in front of him. She felt kind of silly for going through all of the trouble for a dog, but Pakkun was more than _just_ a dog, and it felt kind of disrespectful and rude to sit his food out on the floor. He could _talk _after all.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before the dog spoke up. "So, why did you ask me to join you? Most people would have just saved the food." Sakura pushed a bit of her salad around with her fork as she thought about it.

"Well... I guess I just wanted some company. I've been feeling lonely the past little while and it's pretty sad sitting here by myself and eating a meal meant for two." The dog nodded and then seemed to think of another thing he wanted to say.

"We've been smelling you on Kakashi for a couple months now." Sakura choked on the sip of cola she had taken and fought not to spit it out all over the dog's face.

"WHAT?!"

He winced at her tone. "Your smell. It's been on him for a little while now, though we'd be the only ones to really notice since we're so familiar with both of your scents." Sakura blushed, embarrassed that the dogs had been able to _smell_ her on him.

"And?"

He shrugged and delicately ate another one of the pieces of the steak she had cut up for him. "Nothing. Just felt like pointing it out." Sakura sputtered for a few moments, not really all that sure what to say. What _did_ you say to something like that? Should she be concerned about how she smelled?

"That and the fact that it's the longest we've smelled someone on him." Sakura bit her lip and looked down at her plate, not really sure what to make of that.

"We're... It's nothing serious." Sakura muttered, and the dog eyed her.

"I never said it was."

They went through the rest of the meal in a strangely comfortable silence, Sakura getting up to take the plates to the sink. "Do you want the bones?" She asked and Pakkun sighed, jumping down to the floor. "I suppose. I'll give them to Bull, he'll enjoy them." Sakura nodded and put them in a little paper bag, rolling it closed so it would be easier for the dog to carry it.

"Here, and thanks Pakkun. It was nice having you over." He nodded and gently took the bag in his teeth, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Sakura opened the door a few days later and to her surprise Pakkun was there again, though this time she didn't have to look down to see him. He was at her eye level, sitting on the head of Kakashi's massive bulldog summon -aptly named Bull- with the rest of his summons sitting around him.

"I told them about dinner, so they wanted to come over and I couldn't stop them." Sakura blinked and was about to open her mouth to say something when one of the dogs dashed in between her legs and into the apartment.

"Wow, this is great! It's so much cleaner and nicer than Kakashi's apartment! Look! Curtains! And hey! Her couch has little pillows! Ooh, it's soft too! And _bouncy_!" Sakura blinked at the gray dog that was currently making itself at home on her couch, not really all that sure what to say.

"Um..."

"Shiba! Get off of her couch! What if she doesn't want you on there?" A redish greyhound with bandages wrapped around its head and neck chastised, brushing past Sakura.

"What?! Why?!" Sakura wondered how on earth the dog could be shouting every single thing he said. Even Naruto on his worst day didn't yell as much as he did.

"You know how some humans are. At least ask before you come in here." Said the hypocritical ninken. All eight of the summons turned to look at her and Sakura shoved her hand through her hair. She _had_ said she had been feeling lonely.

"Ah, yeah. I guess it's okay as long as you guys don't make a huge mess." She said, moving so the other dogs could get in and out of the hallway.

Three of the dogs got on her couch as Pakkun made himself at home in her favorite armchair. Bull settled down on the rug she had laid out in front of her bookshelf, thankfully not attempting to try and squeeze his large girth onto any of her furniture. The dog that was wearing sunglasses had decided that it wanted to hide under her coffee table while the other two settled on the floor.

"What's for dinner?" An angry looking dog with light brown fur asked, lazily rolling over so his belly was exposed. Sakura blinked, wondering how she had went from a depressingly quiet apartment to one that was filled with eight very un-quiet and slightly rude dogs.

"Um, I was just going to fix some chicken." Though she'd have to go out and buy more since the bag she had laid out obviously wouldn't be enough to feed all of them.

"And Pakkun got to have steak? That hardly seems fair."

"Urushi! Don't be ungrateful! She could have turned us away and given us nothing." It seemed that the red greyhound was the voice of good sense in the group. Sakura pulled her shoes on and the attention of all eight of the dogs snapped back onto her.

"Where are you going?"

"To the supermarket down the block. I'll need more stuff if you guys are all going to want to eat. Just stay here and look around the place, I guess, or watch some TV." She said, leaving the apartment unlocked since it really couldn't be safer with eight ninja dogs who were able to rip a person limb from limb without any effort.

When she got back and was finished with cooking she had enough food fixed to feed a small and starving army. Getting everyone seated at the table was a problem since it was only supposed to fit four, but they simply moved into the living room to eat off of the coffee table.

Sakura had to admit that having all of them -even with all of the ruckus- was nice. She had never had a big family since it had been just her parents and her, but she hadn't realized how lonely it would be to move out and be by herself. Kakashi coming by to "visit" every now and then and her going over to his place passed some of the time, and Ino popped by unannounced enough that she was usually busy, but recently they hadn't really been coming around because of a sudden increase in missions and it had been lonesome.

But now, eating in the middle of her living room with the eight of them, she was anything but lonely.

"Cherry Blossom! Cherry Blossom!" Sakura blinked and turned to Shiba, wondering when the overly excited hound had come up with her nickname, though it was kind of flattering that he had decided he liked her enough for one.

"Yes Shiba?"

"I'm tired! Let us stay here!" Sakura stared at him for a minute. Sure, it was fun having them over for supper, but staying the night? She didn't let Kakashi spend the night, but could she let his dogs?

"Shiba, what if she doesn't want us here?" The dog turned to her, looking like he was about to cry.

"Cherry Blossom, you don't like us?" All of them turned to her and she shook her head, trying to quickly quell their fears. "What? No! I wouldn't have had let you guys come in here and eat all of my food if I didn't liked you."

"So we can stay?" She nodded slowly, figuring that it wouldn't be too bad to have some company for a night.

"Yeah, sure."

She was in the bathroom washing her face when one of them scratched on the door. "Cherry-chan! Cherry-chan!" Opening the door she looked down to see the small brown floppy eared dog with dark rings around his eyes and the kanji for '_shinobi'_ on his forehead. Apparently he had decided to shorten her nickname.

"Bisuke? What's wrong?"

"Shiba is hogging the bed and won't share." Sakura blinked.

"My bed?" He nodded and she stomped into her room, finding it filled with the ninken. Shiba sat on her bed, snapping at the others when they tried to jump up with him. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Stop that! Who said you could get up on my bed?" She asked, and the gray dog blinked up at her sheepishly.

"But it looks comfier than the floor!"

"So? And even if I had said you could you'd have to share!" His head dipped down and he jumped down, the perfect picture of dejection. "But I just wanted to sleep with you, Cherry Blossom." He whined.

Sakura knew that she should make her stand and steel herself against the hurt puppy eyes he was flashing at her because if she folded now they'd probably keep on asking for more and she'd never have a moment of peace.

But damn it, he made her feel like she had just kicked him out in the cold and rain.

"Fine," She sighed, Shiba and the other dogs perking up immediately. "You can sleep with me. But _share._" She warned. The dogs practically shook with their excitement and they could barely stay still as she took off their little vests and forehead protectors for them.

She slipped under her covers, snuggling into the warmth and lifting the blankets when Pakkun nudged for her to do so, slipping down and curling up on her other pillow. Shiba stretched out down near the foot of the bed, the others finding various spaces and flopping on top of each other or curling up against her back. Bull lumbered in and curled up on the floor against the side of her bed, undoubtedly making it more difficult for her to get up in the morning.

"Your bed is better than Kakashi's!" Shiba declared, and Sakura's lips twitched, knowing this to be the truth. For some reason the man had decided to keep the same mattress his entire life and make it unbearable for anyone but him to sleep on it with all of its the lumps and random springs sticking up to poke you in the hip if you rolled over. She supposed it was to discourage women from spending the night with him, and apparently it worked on his ninken too.

"Can we come over and spend the night again?"

"Yeah." She said quietly, not bothered by the thought of her apartment constantly being filled with the dogs in the least.

* * *

Sakura was leaning back against Bull's side and reading while the last of dinner finished cooking when there was a lazy knock at her door. Knowing that it could only belong to one person she closed to book and got up to answer it, though she let him stew for just a few more minutes before actually doing so.

"Hello, Kakashi."

"You changed the locks."

"I did." He'd still be able to get past them, but with her new body guards they'd probably attack him before they knew who it was if he tried it.

"You stole my ninken." Sakura sniffed and cocked her hip, looking the man over. He had obviously just gotten back from his mission and was covered in blood, mud and something else that smelled terribly foul.

"I did no such thing. They're coming over on their own free will because they _like _me." As if he didn't trust her words he slipped past her, leaving her to roll her eyes and close the door behind him. He was obviously in a bad mood from his mission and coming back to discover that she had _"__stolen"_ his dogs probably hadn't helped anything.

Shiba looked up and jumped down off of the couch, coming to stand in front of Kakashi, wiggling as he obviously restrained himself from jumping on him and worsening his mood.

"Kakashi! Kakashi! Cherry Blossom is making us shrimps wrapped in BACON!" Kakashi turned to her, his eyebrow raised.

"Cherry Blossom?"

"It's what he calls me." He looked both amused and condescending, like an adult looking towards a child, making her bristle. "I don't care what you think, I think it's sweet."

"Shrimp and bacon?" She shrugged.

"They get really excited when I wrap things in bacon for them."

"They have a diet, Sakura. If you feed them the wrong things they'll get fat." All of the dogs' faces seemed to visibly fall. Sakura knelt down and wrapped her arms around Shiba's neck, cuddling him close as she looked up at Kakashi.

"A little bacon can't hurt them, and I give them carrots and stuff. You can be all strict and no fun when you get them back to your place, but here they can have what I want them to have." Shiba nuzzled her face affectionately and licked her cheek, pulling a giggle from Sakura.

Kakashi stared down at her unmoved. "Sakura..." She sighed and stood up, rolling her eyes at him.

"Just hush and go take a shower so you can stay for dinner with us. You look and smell terrible." He narrowed his eye at her but she shooed him away and towards the bathroom. She grabbed the spare set of clothes he kept at her apartment for the times he came to her for medical help and sat them on the counter for him, and was just finishing up the last bit of food when he walked into the kitchen.

"So, how did you become keeper for my dogs?"

"I don't really know." She said, distributing the meal on the plates with just the right amount for each of the dogs. "It started out with me giving Pakkun a steak and then they all wanted food and then somehow it ended up with them coming over practically every day and at least one of them spending the night every night."

"And you don't mind?" There was a tinge of disbelief in his voice that made Sakura sigh and roll her eyes, pushing past him to start to serve the dogs.

"No, I don't. They're all very sweet and are really good company." She looked back in time to see a look in his eye that made something in her that she didn't quite understand tingle, but just as soon as soon as it was there it was gone.

"So they get food and a bed and I get...?"

Sakura smirked at him as she passed him again, handing him a plate. "That really depends on how good you are, now doesn't it?" Kakashi paused a moment before smirking back and following her into the living room.

"Now that hardly seems fair."

* * *

I'm going off to college next fall (I got accepted!) and I was thinking about how it's going to be kind of lonely without everyone there and then this just hit me.

I had to make up the dog's personalities according to how they looked in the pictures I found (other than Pakkun).

Love you all! I hope you all live beautiful lives as the beautiful people I know you are!


	30. Filling a Hole Filled Heart, MisaLee

Snow fell gently from thick gray clouds to dance softly to the ground, thrilling Misaki as she made her way home from the market. It would be a white winter if this weather indicated anything, and she dearly hoped it would be. She loved watching the children from the neighboring apartments run around with the freedom that came from snow days, fat with all of their winter wear, worried mothers watching on with amusement as snowball wars were declared and armies of snowmen and snow-angles were sloppily created.

She worried a bit for Lee who was currently on a mission, wishing she had given him a sweater to wear for the chill, even knowing the man's amazing ability to thrive in any climate. When he pointed such things out to her she just smiled and said it was her right as a wife to worry about him.

Brushing her hair from her face and shifting the paper bag of vegetables to her other arm she smiled, hoping he would get home before the majority of the snow melted so they could go for a walk together at night like they usually did when it snowed. It was just so romantic to walk with a clear sky filled with stars, the white snow and the solitude of being the only ones out at the time.

Her smile had gone soft and her eyes distant so that she didn't notice the two figures barreling towards her until they had ran into her, making her fall back onto her butt, her groceries spilling out and over the concrete side walk.

"Hey!" She shouted, watching as the two teen boys ran, grinning broadly at something they had left behind. She turned at the sound of something coming out of the alley the boys had left, expecting another delinquent and preparing herself for the tongue lashing she was about to give but was stopped by what stepped out.

It was a boy just barely approaching his teens, gangly and boney, awkward with angles and elbows that he hadn't quite grown into yet. Black hair curled around his face in a tangled and unmanageable mess, haunted silver eyes overpowering his thin face. His thin clothes were torn and bloodied, angry bruises already forming on his chilled skin.

He looked up at Misaki for a moment, his eyes dazed and blank as they almost seemed to stare through her. His body suddenly jerked as if pulled by an invisible string and his eyes rolled to the back of his head as blood began to trickle from the corner of his mouth, his body crumpling down towards the ground.

Misaki's eyes widened as she moved quickly and instinctively, reaching out and catching the boy in her arms before he hit the frozen ground. She brushed his hair back from his face, looking around fearfully.

Wasn't there anyone to help him? Where was the boy's mother? His body twitched in her hold and she held on tighter, becoming determined when she looked down and saw just how weak the boy looked. Leaving her groceries forgotten in the growing snow she slung the boy's arm around her shoulder and proceeded to half drag and half carry the boy the final two blocks to her apartment, laying him down in the guest bed.

She called Sakura, hoping the busy woman would be willing to lend some of her time, thankful when the woman seemed to materialize almost immediately outside her door when she had spoken the word "Emergency".

"Will he be alright?" She asked, anxiously wringing her hands as the medic leaned over the child and healed him.

"Yeah, he was just beaten up a little and from what I can tell from his body he's used to it."

"Used to it?"

"This kid has apparently been in a lot of fights and had a lot of broken bones and bruises." Sakura stood up and brushed her hands off, finished. "Well, I got to go. Don't let him overwork himself too much and make sure he eats something. He's way too skinny for his own good." Misaki nodded and walked her to the door, expressing her thanks once again before closing the door and turning to the kitchen.

* * *

When Kado woke up he didn't hurt as badly as he always did after getting the crap beat out of him. Sure, he was sore, but the two big bastards hadn't exactly been ones for delicacy so he didn't really understand why he wasn't praying to the Gods for mercy at the moment. He stretched out, testing each muscle slowly to look for anything that would make some sense when his hands hit a hard wood above his head. A headboard.

He jerked up instantly, looking around the strange room he was in with apprehension.

He'd heard about this stuff before, perverts finding kids too weak to fight them off and then stealing them away to lock them up and never let them see daylight again. Well, this bastard had another thing coming if he thought that Kado was just going to do nothing and just let him have his way without a fight.

He slipped of the warm and comfortable bed, looking around when he couldn't spot any of his clothes, leaving him in just his ratty boxers. Well, if whoever had done this expected being practically naked to stop him he was wrong since a little cold wouldn't keep him from getting the hell out of here. He heard a sudden and loud clatter from outside the room, pulling open the door to sneak out and see if he could somehow take advantage of the situation.

He peeked around the corner and into the kitchen and stared, mouth agape.

The woman was beautiful, even covered in flour like she was. Her deep navy blue eyes, her red and brown hair, the sharp features of her face and even the little beauty mark below her left eye, it was all beautiful.

Standing in a stranger's living room in just an old faded pair of boxers that had a hole in them, Kado fell in love with a perfect stranger.

Hearing his sharp intake of breath Misaki turned, smiling brilliantly at the boy and making his heart quicken. "Oh good, you're up! I was just making some waffles when..." She led off and looked down at the flour that covered the floor and her legs before gesturing around her almost helplessly.

"Waffles?" He asked, still stunned. She nodded and went to get a broom, not noticing that the flour that fell off of her pants and onto the floor, marking her trail. "Yes. Whenever I was hurt or ill the cook would always make me waffles and I thought I'd do it for you. But when I picked up the bag of flour I guess I had it turned upside down because it all just poured out and all over me and the floor." She started to clumsily sweep up the mess, leaving small streaks of the powder that she couldn't seem to see.

"Um..." She blinked at him wondering why he was looking at her embarrassed and questioningly, but then it suddenly hit her. "Oh! Your clothes! I put them in the was to get some of the blood off, but they really should be thrown out. Until they're done you can wear some of my husband's clothes, though they'll be big on you." At the mention of a husband Kado felt his stomach dip.

"Husband?"

"Mhmm. He's away right now on a mission." She propped the broom against the wall and walked towards her bedroom, leaving behind an untidy pile of swept up flour on the floor, completely forgetting it as she opened her closet and tried to find something for the boy.

"A ninja?" Kado asked, surprised. She didn't seem the type to marry a ninja. A banker or a businessman maybe, but not a ninja. He looked around the living room for pictures of the man to see what kind of man the woman in the other room could have settled for, but he couldn't find any.

"Yep, and one of the strongest!" She came out and handed the boy a plain black t-shirt. "Here, all of his pants will be way too big so the only thing I can give you for right now is this." He nodded his thanks and pulled it over his head. He'd always been tall for his age so that helped the shirt not look like a loose dress, but he was also thin as a rail so the shirt fell down and hid most of his boxers from view.

"What? No pictures?" He asked, wondering if maybe he was just too ugly to photograph. Thinking that made him feel slightly better about him being an apparent kick-ass ninja and caused him to smirk. She blinked and looked around the room in confusion and then her face cleared in a sudden moment of clarity.

"Oh! No, we have a lot of pictures. But I was cleaning one day and bumped into the shelf we had most of them on, which knocked it over and broke the frames. When I turned to try and catch it the broom in my hand knocked the photos that were on the wall off and broke their frames, so I decided that I'd just send them all in and get all the frames replaced!" She grinned at him as if such an explanation was a simple thing and he blinked, trying to figure out if it was even possible.

"Listen, Lady," He began, trying to keep an even head so he could work out the situation. "Misaki." She interrupted, sitting down on the couch and smiling at the boy.

"Huh?"

"Misaki. It's my name." She waited for a beat before tilting her head a bit. "Now you answer with yours."

"Ah, Kado." He blinked at how brilliant her smile was. "Um, well anyways I was saying that I guess I should thank you for all of this, but I'd like to know what _this_ is first." She blinked at him a bit.

"This?"

"Yeah. Why'd you help me?" Her forehead wrinkle in confusion.

"Why? Because you were hurt."

"So?"

She jerked back as if he had slapped her and stared at the boy with a cold and unfeeling mask on her face, furious at his attitude. "_So? _What do you mean _'so'_, saying that like it didn't matter that you were hurt. Well guess what, I did help you and you're going to have to live with it." She stood up and glided into the kitchen.

"Um, hey-" She turned at the sound of his voice and looked down her nose at him haughtily.

"Come in here and sit down quietly."

"Why?" She turned and gracefully moved into the kitchen, not even making as if to notice when she stepped on the pile of flour on the floor.

"I'm making waffles."

* * *

Misaki dejectedly cut into her waffles. They were sort of gooey in the middle and the vanilla taste was almost sickening after the first few bites and the syrup was really... syrupy. She peeked up at Kado from through her bangs and watched as he continued to diligently eat his food, his fork never faltering. The kid would have been a great actor because his face never flickered into anything even close to distaste.

He looked up and caught her eyes on his, blushing slightly at the direct and unwavering stare. "What?" He grumbled, wiping his face on his arm self-consciously, wondering if he had been doing anything wrong.

"You're eating the food." She pointed out, making the boy roll his eyes.

"Yeah, so? It tastes good, alright?" He demanded, stabbing his fork into his somewhat soggy waffle. Misaki blinked at him.

No one had told her that before other than Lee. Maybe she was just naturally pulled towards the only people that could ever stomach her cooking.

Hiding her smile she shook her head and focused on the god awful food, "Alright."

* * *

Kado kicked a can idly as he made his way to the town's market, making sure to assure himself every couple of steps that he wasn't going there to try and see Misaki again. Sure she had been nice to him and everything, but she had accidentally poured bleach all over his clothes and had ruined them. Why would he want to go back to that? She was a complete ditz.

Though she did have a really nice smile.

If he saw her -which he was sure he wasn't going to- he would thank her. That's it, just thank her. And after an hour of walking around and finally figuring out that she wasn't there he slumped against the wall of one of the buildings, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his baggy and torn shorts and staring down at his scuffed work boots.

"Hey! Hey you!" His head jerked up as he watched a portly man stomp his way over to him, his ruddy face red with his fury. He came up and gripped the front of Kado's shirt, gripping hard and yanking him up so that he was up on his tip-toes. "Give it back!"

Kado's long fingered hands came up and gripped the man's wrists. "What the hell? Give what back?" The man shook him.

"What you stole! Give it back!"

"I didn't steal anything you old bastard! Put me down!" He shouted, struggling against his hold. There was a crowd already forming around them but Kado already knew that it would be pointless to look to any of them for help. A scrawny kid in boots too big for him and ratty faded clothes with a bad look in his eyes against this well-to-do man? It was no question of who they would support.

"Didn't steal anything? Just look at yourself! You-"

"Excuse me, but could you please release that child that you have so callously accused of something he hasn't done?" The man turned and made sure not to release his hold on Kado, though it did slacken when he saw who had gotten enough guts to protest. Kado blinked at the frigid face of Misaki and though a shaft of fear pierced him at just how cold her gaze was he couldn't help but want to smile at her. Not only was she standing up for him but she was doing it while looking positively beautiful.

"But he-"

"Did you see him or are you just judging him by the way he looks?" The man was no longer flushed in anger but now in embarrassment and as he sat Kado back on his feet he didn't meet anyone's eyes, sulking as he walked away. Kado brushed off his shirt where the man had been gripping it, trying to look as dignified as possible so he wouldn't embarrass Misaki.

"Thanks."

"Any time. Now come on and follow me." He did as she bid, hesitating when she stepped inside of a clothing store. Did she bring him here so he wouldn't get in trouble anymore? Because if she had he felt that she should know that he had felt a lot more comfortable pinned against the building by the fat man.

"Kado-kun, how does this look?" He flushed at the addition of the suffix and turned, expecting to see some frilly girl clothes and preparing himself to suffer for just a few minutes before he took his leave, but instead he turned and found her in the boys' clothing section holding up an absurdly pink button-up shirt.

"Um... what are you doing?"

"Finding you some clothes. They're all worn and have holes and you shouldn't be wearing shorts in winter. What if you get sick?" She looked at the shirt again and put it back on the rack, deciding that pick really wasn't the right color for him. Maybe purple.

"Um... Misaki, why are you buying me clothes?"

"Because that's the first thing those people looked at and judged you for. I know for a fact that if you take care of your appearance you can get away with more and people will suspect you less. That man wouldn't have done all of that to you if you had been wearing a suit."

"You're buying me a suit?!" He asked aghast, dreading the very thought and looking around frantically for an escape. Misaki laughed and shook her head.

"Oh, goodness no! What on earth would you do with a suit? I was thinking something more like," She pulled a shirt off of a rack and held it up proudly, her eyes sparkling with joy and pride at the find.

"This."

It was a short sleeved polo shirt, lavender with a little pink detail, its collar stiff and the fabric soft. Kado had to stop himself from throwing up all over the place at just how horrid the thing was. Did she understand how violent and demeaning his death would be if he even thought about wearing it?

"No." He said, turning to leave.

"Oh, fine. If you don't like the shirt you don't have to get it, but I want you to get some clothes. We can say that it's to make up for me ruining your other outfit." She clasped her hands together and looked at him, pleading with him to let her have her way. He sighed and gave in to her begging eyes, feeling the need to give the woman whatever would make her happiest.

"Fine, but just one shirt." She nodded happily and dragged him through the racks.

They walked out a few hours later, arms heavy with the bags of Kado's five new outfits and a few things Misaki had found for herself and her husband, Lee. She then dragged him around through all of the stores that caught her interest, forcing more and more bags into his arms so that they ached with the weight of all of them and leaving her free to skip through the shops and buy whatever caught her fancy.

It was growing dark when they finally got to Misaki's apartment and though she apologized for keeping him out so late she couldn't quite hide how happy she was. It hadn't been as fun as shopping with Lee since Kado had fought her every step of the way instead of replying with the exuberance that she was used to from her husband, but it had been fun, even if he had talked her out of a lot of stuff.

"If you want I can call your parents and apologize for keeping you out so long. I don't want to get you in trouble."

"You don't have to do that."

"Oh, I don't have a problem with doing it."

"It isn't that. I just don't have any parents for you to call." Misaki blinked at him as he sat down the bags, her heart instantly breaking for the boy and the easy way he said such a thing.

"Then who do you stay with?" He shrugged.

"I stay at The Home."

"The Home?"

"The orphanage, we call it The Home since it has this really long and annoying name." He said, staring down at his boots so he wouldn't have to look up and see that sickening sympathy in her eyes or even the disgust that he sometimes saw at the mention of "Orphan".

"Will they be alright with you being out so late?" He shrugged again.

"Yeah, I stay out at night all the time, a lot of the kids do. When you have a building filled with them you don't notice or care that a few of them are missing for a few hours." Misaki's lips tightened.

"Well, that's stupid. There should be someone to care for you and wait up for you." He peeked at her.

"Yeah, well…" He led off, not really knowing what to say.

"Well, you know what? If you need a place to sleep or something to eat or even something to do you can just come over here. I always need some company, especially when Lee is gone." She smiled brilliantly at him and he blushed, embarrassed and pleased at how wonderful it sounded, though he made sure not to act like it mattered all that much. Because it didn't.

"Yeah, well, maybe if I feel like it." She smiled and clasped her hands together, looking as thrilled as if he had told her he enjoyed her company so much that he couldn't ever even think of staying away. Not that he did, of course.

"Brilliant! Now, help me throw those clothes in the wash and then I'll fix us something to eat. I've been wanting to try this little Mexican recipe, but no one would taste test it for me." She grinned at him and he knew he was going to have to watch her carefully to make sure she didn't accidentally pour in an entire bottle of the hottest hot sauce she could get ahold of and nearly kill the both of them painfully. Really, he should just tell her to order out and save everyone the trouble.

"I love Mexican food." Was his answer instead.

* * *

Kado shoved his hands into his pockets and lowered his head against the icy lash of the wind, thankful for the leather coat Misaki had gotten him to shield him from the harsh weather. At the thought of the woman his lips curled and his feet automatically began the trek to her apartment.

He'd be going and visiting her for the greater part of two months now and each and every time he grew more and more at ease with her, though he made sure he never showed such feelings to her.

But he was happy. He had someone who cared about him, clumsily though it was, and somebody who was willing to take the time needed for him. Though he supposed she had a lot of time since her husband was away on another mission, leaving as soon as he had gotten back into Konoha and causing the woman to go on a mad cleaning spree, which had led to her dropping her newly framed photos as she had carried them up the steps to the apartment.

So Kado still hadn't gotten a good look at the guy, which made him uneasy.

Someone as sweet and beautiful and kind -not to mention a great deal ditsy- as Misaki was sure to attract the wrong kind of men. Her husband was probably a huge douche that abused and overlooked just how wonderful she was, and the only one who would be able to get her out of such an awful relationship would be Kado.

Smirking slightly to himself at the thought of playing hero he started up the stairs to the apartment, knocking on the door and listening to her fumble with something inside of the apartment that elicited a stream of "Darn it"s and "Shoot"s from her. Kado quickly hid all evidence of his amusement as she opened the door.

"Ah, Kado-kun! Come in, I was just figuring out dinner." He followed her into the kitchen and saw the box she must have tripped over on her way to the door, smirking as he pushed it out of her way with his foot, sure that she'd probably end up tripping over it again before he left.

"You see, I was thinking about spaghetti for dinner and then when I was watering my orange tree," He wondered if the scraggly and over-loved shriveled up stick in a pot could even be considered a plant, though he kept such thoughts to himself.

"And then it hit me: I didn't want spaghetti! No, I wanted something different. I wanted meatloaf." He nodded and didn't even bother to asked her how she had gotten from spaghetti to oranges and then to meatloaf.

He sat down and waited for her to serve him, watching with interest as she tried to cut the loaf only to have it crumble on her and fall apart into clumps covered in ketchup and with soggy vegetables sticking out like a sore thumb every now and then.

He was lifting the first forkful to his mouth when they heard the door open and he saw Misaki's entire being begin to glow with untainted joy. She dropped her fork and jumped out of her seat, racing to the doorway and leaving her chair to wobble as it tried to keep its balance.

"Lee-kun!"

Kado pushed his seat back and followed her into living room, gaping at the sight before him. When he had tried to imagine Misaki's husband by putting together what she had told him he hadn't imagined... this.

She had said that he was the strongest man she had ever met, that he was tall and handsome with dark hair and that he was energetic with a wonderful smile.

He had to wonder if she had ever looked at the man and the absurd amount of green he had on.

"Oh, Lee!" She cried out again, smiling as she kissed him and then pulling back to grin fully at him. "I want you to meet someone!" She turned to Kado and gestured for him to come closer. "This is the boy I was telling you about before you left, Kado. He's been keeping me company for the past few months. Kado, this is my husband, Lee." Kado approached hesitantly, letting his hair fall forward a bit so that he hid his eyes from the stranger.

"Hey."

The man grinned brilliantly at the boy, his white teeth seeming to create their own light as they shined, blinding Kado momentarily. "Hello! Misaki has told me much about you, and I am pleased to meet you! Looking at you, I can see the fires of youth burning within you!" Kado wondered if he was staring. The guy was a complete freak, and it was hard to decide whether his personality or his eyebrows were bigger.

"Uh, sure." He said, trying to remember that this guy was married to Misaki and that meant he was important to her so he'd have to play nice until he saw him doing anything that could hurt hurt her in even the tiniest way.

But as he sat through dinner and saw the looks that they gave him and the way they sort of gravitated towards each other, he found it was hard to keep thinking of the man like that. Sure, he was weird looking and probably a good deal crazy if his outfit was anything to go by, but they just both seemed to fit together. Though he wouldn't let the man completely off the hook yet.

In the middle of the meal Misaki excused herself to go to the bathroom, smiling at the thought off her two best men getting along. Kado kept on silently eating, looking up from his plate when he felt Lee's eyes on him.

"Are you taking advantage of Misaki?" Lee asked, his face completely serious as he tried to figure out just what this kid wanted with his precious wife.

"Excuse me?"

"Are you here just so you can make use of a lonely woman's kindness? Or are you here for some other reason?" Kado stared down at his meatloaf, poking at a piece of carrot in it, trying to figure it out. Was the guy trying to get rid of him or was he just feeling him out to make sure Misaki would be all right with him? Well, whatever reason he was doing it, Kado wouldn't be all that easy to get rid of.

"Why are you asking for?"

"I don't want you to hurt her if you're just here to take her generosity and then leave." Kado snorted, knowing he shouldn't be insulted by that, but he was anyways. It seemed that Misaki was the only one who didn't judge him by the way he looked.

"No. I'm not." Lee nodded and sat back.

"Good, because she's becoming attached to you and I don't want to see her hurt."

"She wouldn't be so attached if you would be here with her. She gets lonely." He said, letting some of his anger out at the man who had left Kado's favorite person be by herself for so long. Lee nodded again and looked over at Kado, his eyes holding no apologies.

"I know, but _she_ knows that it is my job and that it doesn't make me love her any less." Kado tried not to pout as he stabbed a chunk of the meat, not really able to find an argument for that.

"But you need to be careful." Lee warned him, listening for Misaki so that she wouldn't walk in on the conversation.

"Why?" Kado snorted, no longer trying to hold back his glare. The man was kind of pissing him off. Why should he be careful? He could do what he wanted, he wasn't going to hurt Misaki and it wasn't like it affected Lee in any way.

"Because Misaki can't have children." Kado's eyes widened, not really able to understand that. Sure, Misaki was a ditz and sucked at pretty much everything she tried to do as a housewife, but he could see that she would be a great mother in the way she just seemed to hold herself or the way she looked at the kids she passed on the street.

Maybe that was why she always looked so wistful when they had passed the daycare center on the way to the market those few times he had gone with her.

"She has a hole in her heart that she is filling with you." Lee warned, watching as the child processed the information. "And if you ever do anything to hurt her or make her cry by you ripping out that piece of her again, I will find you, and I will hurt you." Kado blinked at the man, watching as his suddenly fierce face relaxed into a smile as he turned to Misaki as she entered once again.

"I'm glad you two seem to be getting along so well." She said, smiling beautifully at the two of them. Lee grinned at her. "Why of course!" He exclaimed, starting on some long winded story about his mission that made Misaki smile and laugh.

Kado watched him and figured that maybe the guy wasn't all that bad. He was just protecting what was his, and Kado figured that since that was what he was doing with Misaki before he met Lee, that left them as equals.

Though he wished he could have said the same thing about finding and hurting him before Misaki had gotten back into the room. That had made him sound pretty bad ass.


	31. Christmas Memories, All pairings

I always put my chapters up as soon as I write them (Though this one has been sitting on my computer so I could write Kado's introduction in the last chapter) which is why I'm putting up a Christmas themed chapter up before Halloween.

I guess I was in a Christmasy mood (I'm one of those people who hums Christmas carols in the summer), so I wrote this.

Oh, if you are a believer in Santa Clause, please do not read this and continue on with your wonderful life believing in magic and happiness.

* * *

"That's my ornament."

"No, the snowman with the funny hat is _mine_."

"No, yours is the one with the scarf."

"No, it's not."

"We can do this all day, but in the end I'll still be right."

"Ringo, stop being stubborn and give me the ornament."

"Oh Anzu, I'm not being stubborn, I'm being right."

"Ringo-"

"Sissy! I want that one!"

"Momo, not now, I'm proving my superiority over Anzu."

"But I want _that one_!"

Ino closed her eyes and tried to remember why she had ever thought that three children had been a good idea. Really, it was all Hinata and Naruto's fault. If they hadn't made having five kids look easy all of this would have never happened, she could have just gotten a fish and lived her life in peace and quiet.

But no, she had wanted to experience the joys of motherhood.

"Ringo! Anzu! Does it really matter whose ornament it is? Just put it on the tree and no one will know who put it on there."

"Mom, _we'll_ know. We'll always know who put it on there and it will be without us having settled this argument. Then the ornament will always be tainted, and we don't want that, do we?"

Ino narrowed her eyes at her oldest. "Put it on the tree."

"Mom-"

"On. The. Tree. _Now_." Ringo, figuring that they could just continue the fight later since she'd be right whatever time it was, hung the ornament on one of the branches.

"Now, was that really so hard?"

"Mommy! Mommy! I want that one!" Momo cried, scampering over to tug on her mother's skirt and point to one of the ornaments on the table. Ino glanced at the hand crafted glass flower ornament that she hadn't even taken out of the box yet, saving it for a time when her children weren't such vicious little hellions, and shook her head.

"Sorry Honey, but that one is too delicate for you. Why don't you keep hanging up the ones we laid out for you?" Momo stuck her lip out and pouted, blinking her wide brown and tear filled eyes at her mother.

"But it's pretty."

Ino sighed and hung a little bit more tinsel on the tree. "I know, but you can't." The three year old glared at her mother before throwing her head back and howling, angry tears streaking down her cheeks. "But I want _THAT ONE_!"

"Ringo, that one is mine too!"

"No, it's not. And what do you mean '_too'_?"

"That the other one was mine, just like this one is."

"It's cute how you're trying to be right, but you're wrong."

"Ringo!"

Ino swore she heard something snap as she threw back her head and shouted over the tearful screeches and battle cries. "CHOJI!"

The large man came to the archway of the living room where the tree was being set up and blinked as he took in the chaos. "...Yes?" He asked hesitantly, not wanting to innocently wander in and step on a landmine.

Ino pointed to her husband accusingly. "_You_. You're half responsible for these _things,_ so come in here and take care of it."

Choji came into the room and walked past the two eldest and arguing children, instead picking up Momo in favor of getting rid of her painfully high pitched cries and getting that much closer to blessed silence.

"Hey, what's the sad face for Muffin?" He asked, giving the small girl one of the potato chips from his bag. She sniffled and took it, looking up at her father tearfully.

"Mommy won't let me hang ornaments." Ino huffed out a breath in protest but Choji focused on the girl instead.

"Oh?"

She nodded and pointed to the one she wanted. "I want to hang that one but she won't let me because she's mean." Choji looked at her.

"No, she just doesn't want it to break. If you dropped it and it broke she'd be sad, and you know that it's really bad when Mom gets sad because you get sad too, and no one ever wants to see you sad. So, why don't we just leave that one alone?" The girl nodded, her little brown curls bobbing. "Okay." She said, resting her head against his shoulder so she could nibble on the chip he had given her.

Ino pressed her lips together and watched as Choji turned to their other children. "Hey, what's this about?" Ringo turned to her father and stomped her foot, holding the ornament up to show it to him.

"This! I know that the sledding bear is mine, but Anzu keeps insisting that it's hers! And she's _wrong_."

"Check the bottom of the box." The two girls blinked at him.

"What?"

"The box. Last year when you two had this same argument your mother and I wrote the names of who they belonged to on the bottom of the box." They blinked again and picked up the box, Anzu looking back up and grinning in triumph.

"Told you!" Ringo shrugged, not really caring all that much if she was wrong, only if she was right.

"Oh, and look at this, the snowman is mine! I do believe that this means that _I_ told _you._"

Ino rubbed her temples. "Boys. Boys would have been _so_ much easier." She muttered when Choji had joined her after setting Momo down so that she could keep on hanging her ornaments on the bottom of the tree.

"Oh? Do you want a boy now?" He asked, slipping his arm around Ino's shoulders and pressing a kiss to her forehead. Ino chuckled, poking him in his stomach. "Don't even think about trying it, Bub."

* * *

"What do you mean you don't believe in Santa?!"

Asuma looked up at Maria from his seat on the living room floor and shrugged, wanting to laugh at how sweetly ridiculous the woman looked with the red Santa hat on her head. "We just don't. Dad has always told us that he wasn't real." Kyoko nodded and Maria childishly stomped her foot, turning to said man.

"You! How could you?"

"How could I what?"

"Take away Santa! I mean, without Santa all of this is kind of moot, isn't it?" She said, motioning to the decorated tree and the stockings hung on the windowsill.

"Isn't Christmas supposed to be about giving and being grateful for what you get and not about a bearded and jolly fat man in a red velvet outfit?" He asked, smirking when Maria stomped her foot again.

"Yes, but when you're a kid everything is so much more magical when you believe Santa will come down the chimney to give you the presents, not your parents."

"Why? Usually breaking and entering isn't something you would celebrate." Kyoko said. Maria glared at Shikamaru and pointed at him accusingly.

"See what you've done? You've practically ruined their childhood by taking all the magic out of their lives! You've probably taken away the Tooth Fairy and the Easter bunny too!"

Maria sighed and stomped out of the room, coming back in with a bag filled with presents, angrily dropping it beside the tree. "There! No reason to hide them now since the joy of Christmas has been ruined." She said, flopping back on the couch and crossing her arms as she stared away from the group, pouting.

Asuma sighed and walked up to her, figuring it would all go better if she stopped pouting before she fixed their dinner. "Maria, isn't it better to know that the people that gave you the presents loved you enough to get them for you instead of all of those feelings going towards some imaginary man? That way when you get and give the presents it's like you're sharing your feelings with each other."

Maria blinked at the boy before reaching out and dragging him to her in a big hug. "Oh! Maybe you're not ruined! After all, that might have been the sweetest argument I've heard from you!" She said, pressing a noisy kiss to the boy's cheek and making him blush.

* * *

"Mommy, where does Santa live?" Mino asked, watching his mother intently with his clear white eyes as she finished icing the first batch of cookies she had fixed.

"At the top of the world in the North Pole." She said, smiling down at the boy sweetly as she went to go pull the second batch out of the oven, placing them on the cooling rack.

"Isn't he cold?" Mino asked, remembering that the top of the world was ice. Hinata giggled at the serious look on the boy's face.

"No, he always wears his coat, so he's perfectly warm. Aren't you warm when you wear your coat?" Mino nodded, accepting his mother's explanation and the cookie she held out to him.

He nibbled on it as he followed her into the living room where the rest of the family was, the multicolored lights on the Christmas tree flashing as the fire burned, the shiny wrapping paper on the presents reflecting the glow they cast.

Kori was lying on her stomach on the couch and reading a book -most probably a steamy romance with rakish princes or dashing pirates what with the phase the sixteen year old was going through currently- her thick blonde hair tumbling free down past her shoulders. The twins sat together on the floor in front of the coffee table with some papers and a scroll their father had reluctantly allowed them to borrow laid out on the table. Leo was sitting beside Naruto, the two of them probably talking about some ninjutsu or some fight Naruto had been in in the past.

Hinata smiled at the group and sat the cookies down, the twins' heads snapping up when they heard it. Yuka fidgeted and snatched a cookie.

"Mooooom, when can we open a present?" She wined, just as she did every year, and just as she did every year Hinata looked at the mantle and at the clock even though she already knew the answer.

"In twenty minutes at six just like we said earlier. You can wait that long to open a single present, can't you?" Yuka sighed and flopped back, groaning as if the thought of waiting physically pained her.

Leo dashed over to grab a couple of the cookies and ended up fighting with Yuka over the last bell shaped one with green icing, ignoring the halfhearted protests that came from Yuki. Mino sat quietly in the space Kori had made for him on the couch and watched them, finishing his cookie but not wanting to get another, remembering his mother's warnings about too may sweets and cavities.

Hinata sat in Leo's vacated seat and rested her head on Naruto's shoulder.

Sometimes it amazed her that they had actually been married for nearly seventeen years and that they had five beautiful and rowdy children. But she'd look in his eyes or he'd touch her in that surprisingly gentle way of his and she'd be filled with the knowledge that yes, this _was _her family, and with just that knowledge she became just so undeniably _happy._

Naruto threaded their fingers together and watched their children with her. "We should stop them." Hinata murmured as the argument between the two children escalated so that they were now standing and shouting at each other. It wasn't that the shouting bothered her -each of the children other than Mino shouted at times, something they got from their easily aggravated father- it was just that it didn't really seem right that they should be fighting on Christmas eve.

"Nah, they do this every year. Why break tradition?" Hinata turned her head to smile up at him, giggling a little.

"It's a strange tradition. Really, we should be upset that they're arguing. Most parents would be." He grinned back at her, unbothered by the fact. "Not really, it's not like they're actually fighting, just some sibling argument. It's not something to get worried about."

Though he wouldn't be tell his wife that Yuka had just thrown a cookie at Leo's head, trusting Yuki to get it before she turned around and saw it.

After all, it was Christmas Eve.

* * *

"Sakura-chan."

"Yes Pakkun, what is it?"

"Kakashi can't find the serving platter."

"I told him that it was in the china cabinet." She said as she pulled the ham out of the oven and checked on the green beans. Pakkun sighed. "Yes, but he can't find it." She slammed the lid to the pot down forcefully, making the little dog jump.

"Go in there," She gritted out in a low and threateningly sweet voice, "And make him look again. _Please._" The dog was quick to do her bidding, fearing her and whatever wrath disobeying her would evoke.

Sakura put the potatoes in a bowl and then added the milk and cheese, setting the mixer up just as Kakashi came in. "Sakura, that platter you want isn't in there." She calmly sat the mixer down and wiped her hands off on the hand cloth that was tucked into her waist as she stepped out of the kitchen and went up to the china cabinet.

"Do you mean," She said as she opened the bottom door and pulled out the platter. "This?"

Kakashi's open eye widened when she forcefully shoved the platter into his stomach as she passed him, going back into the kitchen to continue on with fixing Christmas dinner. He followed her in and watched as she started mashing the potatoes.

"You know," He started, ignoring the furious and painful lashing her eyes were currently giving him, "You said on the cabinet, not in." Sakura narrowed her eyes at the man and raised the speed of the blender, silently and viciously killing him with her eyes.

"Hey Mom," Karin said as she walked in, carrying Pakkun in her arms. "When are we going to eat? The ninken are getting impatient."

"They," She said as she dropped the pan of rolls on the counter, slamming the oven door shut, "Can wait." Karin nodded and scratched Pakkun on the top of his head absently, unphased by her mother's short attitude. She walked out of the kitchen and ignored the look her father sent her, leaving the man to his fate.

"Sakura-chan," He said as he edged a little closer, not really all that sure what she was going to do with that knife. "Really now, all of this over-"

"Mom, I'm hungry. When are we going to eat?" Jiro interrupted, ignoring the warning signals his sister was sending him from across the room, hidden from their mother's sight. Sakura turned slowly, pointing her knife at the pink haired boy threateningly, eyes flaming and daring him to even try and say another word. He easily turned on his heel, making his way out of the room and away from his currently homicidal mother.

The two children watched as their father tried to make peace with the woman, her waving the knife and him dodging to wrap an arm around her waist and whisper in her ear. There were a few moments of silence before Sakura relaxed in his hold and playfully shoved him away, finishing the diner preparations.

Karin sighed and looked at her brother. "It's scary to think that this is what we come from, isn't it?" He nodded and turned to go and do anything other than watch the scene in front of him.

* * *

"Mama, Papa, I'm going to stay up to see Santa tonight!" Rin declared, having decided this as she played with her mashed potatoes. Neji sighed and sat down his fork, lacing his fingers together on the table. "Rin, you're six now so it's probably about time you should know-" He stopped as the sudden pain of Tenten digging her nails violently into his thigh -a few inches too close for comfort- registered.

"Know what, Papa?" Rin asked, blinking her wide and innocent white eyes at him. Tenten smiled easily at the girl and continued Neji's sentence as if she weren't silently threatening to do something very violent to the man sitting beside her, though her version was a bit altered from what he was going to say.

"Know that it's about time! I was sitting up for Santa when I was three, what's taken you so long?" Rin gaped at her, amazed at the thought of her mother not only being _three_ but also waiting up for Santa.

"Did you ever see him? Does he wear red like in the pictures? Does he rhyme like in the book? Are the reindeer really cute?" Rin gasped as she thought of the most important question.

"Does Rudolph's red nose really glow bright so he can guide the sleigh at night?"

Tenten grinned at the girl, digging into her husband's leg just a little more when he opened his mouth to protest. "I never caught him, but I'm sure you can if you can stay up. But you can only stay up if you finish your dinner." Rin's eyes went wide at the thought of doing something her mother never had and she began to eat with vigor, jumping out of her seat when she was done so that she could get prepared for the night ahead of her.

Tenten waited until the girl had raced out of the room before she released Neji's leg. He glared at her as he rubbed it, happy that she had at least showed some restraint and hadn't broken skin. "What was that for?" Tenten crossed her arms and leaned back, an eyebrow lifting in disbelief. "That's what I should be asking you."

"What?"

"Listen, I know all your hopes and dreams were sucked from your soul and castrated in front of you when you were a child by your clan, but I'm not going to let you do it to our daughter."

"If she stays up we won't be able to sneak the presents in there."

"Oh please, she's not even going to make it an hour."

Neji pinched the bridge of his nose and tried think of the reason why he had even thought to start this whole thing. "Fine." He grumbled, "She gets Santa."

"And the tooth fairy." He opened his mouth but then closed it again. "Fine." She smiled at him and slipped her hand over his thigh again, though this time to rub the still sore wounds she had given him.

"Poor thing, did I hurt you?" He glared, insulted that she thought he would think that something like that had hurt. "Because, if I had, I suppose I could kiss it better." He blinked, taking in her teasing and promising smile and the way her fingers were moving.

"Oh?" She nodded.

"Yes. But you know the awful aim I have. I might just miss and end up just a bit North." She said, her fingers starting to head in the direction her words had taken. He opened his mouth to reply when Rin called out from the other room, asking for hot chocolate. "Coming!" Tenten called, getting up and going to the kitchen, leaving Neji in a very distressed state.

Later that night he watched as Rin made a little nest on the couch in front of the tree, her eyes focused determinedly on the task before her. Tenten walked in and nodded to the book in the girl's hands, one of the girl's personal favorites "_The Night Before Christmas"_

"Do you want me to read that to you?" The girl shook her head and gripped it tightly to her chest. "No! I'll fall asleep!" Tenten nodded and bent to kiss the top of her head.

"Okay, good night, Sweet. Make sure to tell me what Santa was like tomorrow morning, alright?" The girl nodded and stared determinedly at the clock, just waiting for Santa to show up so she could surprise him.

But sure enough, just as Tenten had promised, she nodded off before the clock chimed eight and Neji and Tenten were stealthily slipping presents under the tree and into her stocking, using all their ninja stealth abilities so they wouldn't wake the child and destroy her pleasant dreams.

After they were done and had slipped a blanket over Rin, Tenten poked her elbow into Neji's ribs. "I told you, didn't I?" He simply nodded, waiting for his wife's gloating to be over with. Grinning she grabbed his hand and dragged him towards their room. "Come on," She said, sending him a look over her shoulder. "It's time for your Christmas present."

* * *

"Merry Christmas Kado-Kun!" Misaki and Lee cried, the sheer joy and Christmas spirit radiating off the two making the boy want to shield himself from the brightness.

"Ah, yeah. Thanks."

Misaki grinned and picked up a wrapped box from beside her, handing it to him. "Here!"

He blinked down at the vivid and grinning reindeer printed on the paper, not knowing if her should tell the two that this was his first actual Christmas or not. Sure, the orphanage had handed out donated presents but most of those were little tops or crayons and pencils, gifts without thought or feeling.

Hiding how much this actually meant beneath his his usual mask of indifference he tore the wrapping paper off and lifted the lid of the box off, staring in shock at what was in it. Whatever it was.

Misaki clapped her hands together and beamed at his dumbstruck expression. "It took me forever to find just the right one for you, but when I saw this I just knew it was perfect!" Kado just kept blinking at it and she frowned, unsure. "Oh, do you not like it?"

_It_ was a thick sweater with the most horrid green and purple stripes going horizontally and yellow zigzag _things _slashing through them vertically. Misaki's smile faded and she went to take the box from him. "Ah, sorry. I'm sure I have the receipt around here somewhere. We can take it back and get you something different."

She was giving him an out and Kado knew that he should take it and get rid of the disgusting thing. But something made him grip the box tightly and keep her from taking it from him. He looked up into her eyes and found himself saying, "No."

At his resistance Misaki's happiness returned so that she was physically radiating it, "You like it?"

No, he didn't. It was horrible and ugly and if he took it that meant that he'd actually have to _wear _it someday to keep her happy. But looking up into her face he was utterly defeated. "Yeah. It's great." She gasped and clasped her hands in front of her, practically bouncing from the sheer joy that filled her.

"That's wonderful! Oh, and we have more presents!" She said as she picked up a few more boxes and bags, passing them to the boy, eager to see his face light up with joy at the presents she and Lee had picked for him.

The first box he opened had a wallet, "Because you're always keeping your money in your shoe!" And he just barely kept himself from laughing out loud, but she just looked so proud that he couldn't tell her he had a reason for keeping his money where it was.

Then there were shirts and pants, though none as horrid as the sweater, and even an acceptable pair of boots. A watch was in one of the bags along with a note book and some pens, and in the final bag was the latest and biggest game console on the market, one that every kid had hoped to get for Christmas but had no hope of since the waiting list was so long. Kado blinked in awe and touched the box reverently.

"How...?"

"Oh, I heard that this was a big thing with boys your age and I have a friend who was able to get me one. You can leave it here since there probably isn't a TV you can play it on at The Home." Kado looked up at the two of them and reached down beside him wordlessly to pick up a crinkled brown paper bag and thrust it at them.

"Here. They didn't have any wrapping paper and... Here."

He turned his face away so they wouldn't see how embarrassed he was, wincing when Misaki gasped. "Kado-kun... It's..."

He looked down at the little misshapen turtle figurines both of them were holding, Lee's covered with glass of different shades of green and orange and Misaki's covered with a different array of rainbow hues. "I made them in the art room with clay and decorated them with bits of glass and beads I found. I knew that you guys like turtles and I know they're not much but-" He was suddenly stopped by Misaki wrapping her arms around him in a hug and Lee joining in just a few seconds later, both of them tearfully telling him that they loved the little trinkets.

He resigned himself to the tearful hug and sighed, wearily patting the pair on their backs.

* * *

I actually used some of my families old traditions for this (not the fighting, we were never allowed to fight. If we started fighting our mother would stop us and we'd get a spanking)

We'd always be allowed to open one present on Christmas eve (usually it was a board game for all of us to play together before we went to bed)

We'd have a big Christmas dinner (Mashed potatoes, honey ham, green beans, rolls).

We'd always hang the ornaments and end up having an argument about which one belonged to each of us, which always ended with our mom yelling at us and us getting punished (my dad never came in to help the situation, he was usually at work or on his computer)

We never stayed up for Santa though. Our parents sat up and yelled at us if we stepped out of our rooms.

Oh, and Santa never put presents under the tree, he was the one who filled our stockings.

I wish you all happiness and joyful dreams filled with sugarplums dancing through your heads (the sugarplum part, for those who are not familiar, is a line from _The Night Before Christmas_, not me being my crazy self)

I'm going to go eat waffles now.


	32. A Father's Job, KakaSaku

Yet another present for my sweet little xaburame15, who asked for a KakaSuku family fic.

Oh, I forgot to say this earlier, but I'll also try and write out any scenarios you send towards my way. It might be a fun little challenge for me to try and think up the story, especially if Kathy goes on hiatus again.

* * *

Kakashi was lounging on the couch reading one of his books, relaxing and enjoying the quiet that lay over the house. One of the ninken lay underneath the table asleep, snoring softly, and Kakashi knew the others were probably around somewhere, just hopefully not on the furniture.

This peace was not a regular occurrence, no matter how often it was wished for. But Sakura was at the hospital fulfilling her duties as the Chief of Staff, Karin was out training with her team and Jiro was up in his room quietly going through the new medical books his mother had gotten him. And so the house was blessedly, beautifully, and gloriously quiet, allowing for the famous copy ninja to read his newest porn book without any interruptions.

Though as a parent he should have known better than to hope that such a miracle would continue on for very long.

The front door was thrown open and left that way by a tearful white haired girl as she ran past her surprised father and into her room, slamming the bedroom door behind her. The man blinked for a moment before looking down at Urushi, who had been torn from his pleasant nap by the sudden ruckus. The dog seemed to shrug before getting up and going over to the open front door, pushing it closed with his head.

Kakashi stayed sitting on the couch and debated with himself for a moment. While he should probably fulfill his duty as a parent and go see what was bothering his eldest child, he usually left the tears and other such emotional... things to Sakura. But Sakura wasn't at home at the moment and would kill him if he sent one of the ninken to disrupt her at work over such a thing. He could leave it be, but Karin was crying pretty loudly and Sakura would not only kill him but also restrict all forms of sex if she knew that he had left their daughter in her room to cry by herself without asking what was wrong. So the only thing he could do that would leave him alive and with the benefits of such would be to go and talk to the girl.

But she was emotional and a teenager and he wasn't all that sure if he was really choosing the best course of action as he started down the hall to her room.

Jiro, having heard the earlier commotion, had come out of his room to stare at his sister's door and listen to the uncontrolled sobs. He leaned against the doorway of his room as his father approached, flipping some of his pale pink hair out of his eyes with a twitch of his head. Kakashi stopped and looked at Jiro, sighing as he delayed the inevitable.

"You know," He said, shoving his hands into his pockets as the young boy watched him with the same half-mast eyes he had. "Your mother was really big on crying when she was little. She never seemed to stop." He looked at Karin's door cautiously. "I don't remember it being quite this... loud."

"Maybe it was like a buildup. Karin doesn't cry all that much, so when she does we get," Both men winced as the sobs and broken cries seemed to reach another level, one that seemed loud enough to shatter both of their ears. "This." He finished, resisting the urge to take his hands out of his pockets and cover his ears.

Kakashi sighed and braced himself, opening the door slowly and peeking his head in, almost afraid of what might happen if he dared to venture in.

The room was dark, the curtains pulled against the sunlight and the lamps off, the crack of light from the hall the only thing illuminating the room. But even in the darkness Kakashi could pinpoint each item in the room from the giant grinning pink elephant in the corner that Kakashi had won for her at a festival when she had been six to the lime green fuzzy lamp shade on her bedside lamp that Karin had gotten on a moment of whimsy.

But what he focused on was the fourteen year old who was lying face-down on the bed, face buried in her pillow as she tried to unsuccessfully muffle her sobs.

"Ah, hey. What's wrong?"

Karin lifted her head up to present her father her ravaged face; her pert nose red with snot running slightly out of it, her eyes swollen and puffy and the tears having left large wet streaks down her face. Her white shoulder length hair was a tangled mess that framed the frightful sight, her swollen eyes bloodshot as they glared at her father accusingly.

He had been right, she was nothing like her mother when she cried.

"Why... do... you... care?" She choked out, her breath hitching after each word.

"Because I'm your father?" He knew it should have sounded like a statement, but he couldn't help but have it come out as a question. The way his usually pretty daughter looked was... distracting.

"S-So?" She sniffled, burying her face back into her pillow. Kakashi sighed and stepped into the room, going over and sitting down on the side of the bed and laying what he hoped was a soothing hand on her back. "So I care about you and want to know what went wrong. Was it training?" He asked, hoping it could be something as simple as that. He could deal with training. The girl shook her head, never moving her face from her pillow.

"Your friends?" Another head shake.

"Did you get a mission and have something go wrong?" Another head shake.

"Did someone say something to you?" Another shake and Kakashi hesitated on the next guess, not really all that sure if he wanted to venture into such territory.

"Was it... A boy?" The girl hesitated and Kakashi nearly groaned. God, he wished Sakura was there to take over and save him from the terrible fate he could see coming.

With another sob Karin turned to her father, throwing herself at him and burying her face into his shoulder as she clutched his shirt as if it were a lifeline.

"I-I was w-walking ho-home w-when I s-s-saw my b-boyfriend." Kakashi nearly jerked back from the girl.

"You have a boyfriend?!" She nodded and sobbed again. Kakashi blinked.

Well this was... unacceptable. She was _fourteen_, she shouldn't be dating. She should be training and playing with her friends and be focusing on anything other than the opposite sex. After all, wasn't she just asking him to ride up on his shoulders and giggling as he made her fly like a bird with his legs? Wasn't she just holding onto his hand as if she would never let it go and calling strawberries "Stah-bewies"? What had happened to that? Where had that gone?

"I-I saw h-him and w-was ab-b-bout to go t-to h-him when I-I saw who he was w-with." Kakashi smoothed down some of her hair and tried to keep up with the desperate turn his life seemed to have taken.

"...And who was he with?" He hesitantly ventured, nearly jerking back as she wailed. "Hana Keiko!" As if this was the singular worst thing that could ever happen to her, when really Kakashi knew the worst thing was to have your daughter crying all over you as she confessed to having a boyfriend.

"And...?" Kakashi prompted, the girl jerking back from his shoulder to glare at him.

"And he was kissing her!" She cried, having no trouble getting this out without choking up or sobbing. Kakashi felt like saying that it was better than the little bastard kissing her, but he figured that wouldn't go over so well in her current emotional state. Or probably in any other emotional state of hers either.

"I see."

"A-And w-when I asked him what he w-was doing h-he said that he w-was bored w-with m-me and t-that he ha-ad nev-ver l-liked m-me. He w-was just us-s-sing m-me to s-see if he c-could get cl-loser to R-Rin!" She cried, burying her face into his shoulder once more as she began to sob again, her tears brought back at the reminder of the traumatic experience.

Kakashi rubbed circles into her back as he waited for her to stop crying, the girl eventually falling asleep with her emotions wrung out and her body weary from the tears. Kakashi laid her back on the bed gently and brought one of her blankets up to cover her, slipping stealthily out of the bedroom and into the hall to find Jiro still leaning against his doorway. Kakashi started to walk past him when the boy's voice stopped him.

"His name is Yuma Sen." The boy declared, watching as his father paused. Kakashi turned slowly and smiled at the boy, though the only proof was in the crinkling of his eye.

"Hey Jiro, how about we go hunting?"

* * *

Kakashi looked up from his book to smile at Sakura as she walked in and tossed her keys into the bowl beside the door. She smiled back at him sweetly and his stomach curled. He knew that smile, he _feared _that smile, and he knew that whatever had prompted it was something he wasn't going to like all that much.

"Hello Sakura." Kakashi said, deciding to close his book and set it aside so that he would be able to use both of his hands for the fight that was sure to come.

"Hello Kakashi. You know, I had an interesting patient today. A boy -about fifteen- and I believe his name was Sen. Yuma Sen." Kakashi's smile never faltered and his muscles never twitched to give away any sort of recognition or even a hint of the dread that twisted inside of him.

"Oh?"

"Oh yes. And for some reason, after hearing my name, he seemed particularly fearful of me and had said something along the lines of _'I swear that I'll keep my promise to stay away from you daughter. Please don't hurt me like the other one'_" She sat down next to him and let the smile slip off, revealing the glare that she had kept hidden beneath.

"Why would he say that, Kakashi?"

"I don't know. Did you ask him?" She blew her bangs out of her eyes and sent him a look that called him a complete idiot.

"Of course I did. And after stuttering out some gibberish that I could barely understand I sedated him." She punched his leg, though it wasn't her chakra filled punch so Kakashi wasn't too worried about her being all that upset.

"What the hell, Kakashi?! Why are you beating the crap out of teenagers and sending them to the hospital?"

"Now Sakura, I didn't beat the crap out of him. Really, what do you think of me?" She sent him a bland look and he smiled again.

"That was Jiro."

Sakura hissed and raised a trembling fist to hit him again and this one looked like it was going to hurt so Kakashi braced himself to leap off of the couch, though they were interrupted.

"Daddy, you beat up Sen?" Both of them turned to see Karin, her face still ravaged by tears and now heavy with sleep, her hair in a tangled mess around her face and her pajamas wrinkled.

"Ah..." Suddenly the girl burst into tears again and dashed back into her room, slamming the door behind her for the second time that day. Sakura jumped up and went after the girl, forgetting about Kakashi all together in favor of going after her child.

Kakashi sighed and sagged into the couch, wondering how on earth he was supposed to go through all of this and come out sane. He was forty-nine years old and he'd rather be facing off against an army of vicious enemy nin than dealing with all of this teenage angst. It just made him feel old.

He leaned his head back on the back of the couch and closed his eyes, listening as the sobs gained in volume and then gradually faded, leaving the house in an oddly unsettling silence. Kakashi thought back to how wonderfully the day had started, how calm and peaceful and beautiful it had been. And then there was this.

He listened as Sakura stepped out of Karin's room, closing the door behind her as she walked back over to him. He didn't bother opening his eye or moving from his sprawled position, too tired at the moment to care or worry about Sakura, especially since she was no longer emitting a killing aura.

The pink haired woman rubbed her face and pulled the pins out of her hair to let her bun fall loose, tired of the damned things digging into her head. She flopped onto the couch beside her husband and kicked off her shoes, watching as they flew across the room and hit the wall with a satisfactory thud. She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head back on the back of the couch like Kakashi.

God, life was _tiring._

"That bastard." She sighed, wondering if she could just stay like this for a bit longer, or at least until the end of forever. Kakashi grunted in reply and her lips twitched. "If I would have known all of that I might have slipped something in his IV to make his like a little more difficult."

"No you wouldn't have." Kakashi said, neither of them moving from their relaxed positions, keeping their eyes closed as they talked. Sakura sighed again.

"No, I wouldn't have. But I would have wanted to." She turned her head towards him and cracked open her eyes, smiling slightly at him. "That was a very fatherly thing you did. It was sweet." Kakashi turned his head so they were facing each other, opening his eye to look at her.

"Jiro helped. After all, it would be pretty bad if I went around beating up teenagers, even if they hurt my daughter." Sakura smirked.

"So you let your seven year old do it?"

"Yep, and he kicked his ass. The guy was pathetic." He pulled a face as if tasting something sour, and Sakura had to hold back the urge to laugh.

"When did she start getting boyfriends anyways? When did we have that discussion?" Sakura did laugh at this, moving over to straddle Kakashi's lap and lean her forehead against his.

"Aw~ Poor you~" She cooed, Ignoring his glare. "Your baby is all grown up."

"No. She's not. I can still ground her."

"For what? Crushing on some boy and going around holding hands with him for a week and then getting her heart cracked?" She sniggered. "Really Kakashi, try and act like an adult about this." He narrowed his gaze at the woman, trying to figure out if she was worth it or not.

"You know, I think you're the one who needs to be grounded."

Sakura grinned at him impishly and peeled his mask down to below his chin. "Aw, now that isn't any fun." She teased, and Kakashi had to answer her grin. Even if she was an annoyance at times, he loved the woman. "Maybe a spanking." He offered as their lips met in a warm and familiar kiss.

"Gross." Jiro declared, walking past the two and into the kitchen to get a glass of juice, not bothered in the slightest at the prospect that he had ruined a warm and loving moment between his parents. The couple broke apart and Sakura, after giving him one last quick peck on his lips, slipped off his lap to go into the kitchen and make sure Jiro didn't spill anything without cleaning it up.

Kakashi turned his head at the creak of a door and watched as Karin stepped into the hallway, hesitating as she was about to step out into the living room. She seemed undecided as she stood there, slightly hunched over, twisting her hands together before she seemed to find her resolve, throwing her shoulders back and lifting her head proudly as her mint green eyes focused on the task before her.

She strode over to Kakashi and stood in front of him for a moment, leaving him to wonder if she was going to attack him, though she gave off no such aura. "You beat up Sen?"

"Jiro helped." Kakashi offered, feeling nothing but pity for his son as he offered him as a sacrifice to the wolves.

"Why?"

Kakashi shrugged and didn't meet the girl's eyes, looking over at the wall instead of at her. "He made you cry." He was expecting her to tearfully tell him that it was her life and that it wasn't his place to interfere or something like that but instead she sat down and curled up into his lap and wrapped her arms around him like she used to do when she was little, pressing a kiss to his still bare cheek.

"Thank you Daddy." She whispered, putting her head on his shoulder. Kakashi sighed and wrapped his arms around the girl, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he figured that he'd let the moment go on for just a bit longer. But after that they'd have to talk about this whole _her having a boyfriend _thing.

* * *

This is something I've had cooked up for a while now, but I didn't write it out until xaburame15 asked for it. then I started typing and it just flowed out of me (I love when that happens!)

Oh, in honor of one of my favorite fan fics Into the Future by ichilover3 I'm pairing up Shino with Hana. (Kiba's sister). (Go read this when you get some time, it's under my favorites on my profile. It's hilarious and had me laughing _so _hard, and we even support the same pairings!)

But I have no one for Kiba :( So if any one has a OC or something, tell me! I can't seem to think up anyone for him, and I don't want him to be alone.

I love you all! So much so, that I'd write and sing you a song about it!

But I won't, because I don't want to scare you all of. My personality alone is a lot to take. I mean, I must sound psychotic to all of you when you read these things. But I promise I'm not.

APPLESAUCE!


	33. Directionally Challenged

This one's about my favorite made up team.

* * *

The mission they had been sent on had gone perfectly fine -flawless even- the three of them able to find their mark and get the information needed and their package. They had started on their way back to Konoha and had made it to a split in the road, and really, that had been like divine symbolism for what was to come.

She had asked a question, just a simple and innocent question, and it had turned into a full out war.

"Which way should we go?" She had asked, looking either way with her hands on her hips and a happy smile on her lips. This mission had been great. Mio and Sora hadn't fought, they were going back right on time, no one had approached them and there had been no attacks on them or their cover.

Mio brushed her hair out of her eyes, her long manicured nails tapping her chin as she pondered their situation. "Well, I do believe that the quicker way is left." Kori nodded and had just barely taken her first step before Sora stopped her.

"What are you talking about? We need to go right." Kori nodded again and turned. "Alrighty then."

"No, It's left." Kori turned again.

"To the left is a city that we'll have to go through. The right is quicker." Kori stopped and sighed, already able to see where this was going.

"But to the right is a huge forest that we'll have to fight through. The left is obviously the better option of the two."

"What, do you have something against forests?" Kori moved over and sat down on a large rock that was beside the road. "I mean, we live _in_ _a forest._ There's obviously something wrong with you if you've developed a sudden aversion to trees."

"Oh, look at you! Using your big words! I'm so proud." Kori pulled out the little book she had brought with her and decided to finish reading the last few remaining chapters while she waited for the argument to hopefully blow over. "What's that supposed to mean?! Are you saying I'm not smart?!"

"Oh no," Mio said, pulling her fan out of the sleeve of her jacket and opening it with a flick of her wrist, lazily stirring the air and looking over the edge of it at Sora superiorly. "You're able to say that just fine yourself."

Sora's face became violently red as he clenched his fists at his side and hissed. Glancing up at the pair, Kori could almost see steam coming out of his ears. "I'll have you know I was one of the top students in our class on the written tests. I'm _very _knowledgeable."

"Oh?" She said, flicking her painted eyes over him in a disinterested once over. "Well if that's true, then why don't you know that the left is obviously the right way?"

"Because it's not!" He shouted, his long red-gold braid practically twitching with his frustration and fury. Mio sighed and looked at him blandly and continued to fan herself, unphased by the spectacle the boy was making.

"Really now, shouting is very unbecoming Sora-chan. You'll still be saying the same thing if you speak more respectfully, the only difference is that people might actually attempt to listen to your thoughtless babble." Sora raised his fist threateningly at the girl, his amethyst eyes blazing with righteous fury.

"Do not," He growled, "CALL ME SORA-CHAN!"

Wincing at just how high pitched his scream had been Kori flipped to the last chapter, rubbing her temple as she tried to pretend that she lived in a world where her teammates weren't about to murder each other. It was such a nice and happy world.

"Really now," Mio sighed, knocking Sora's fist away with a flick of her fan, "What do you want me to call you? Sora _is _your name, isn't it?"

"Yes, but you can't add the _chan_! I'm a boy, God damn it! A man! And so are you!" He screamed, pointing an accusing finger at Mio. "So stop dressing like this! It's disgusting!"

"No. You spit when you yell. _That's _disgusting." Mio grimaced, wiping her cheek dry. Sora stuck out his tongue and blew, making spittle fly and forcing Mio to raise her fan to protect her face. Narrowing her eyes dangerously at the now grinning boy she snapped her fan closed and ran at him, coming in low on his left side –his weaker side. She slipped behind him, seemingly disappearing from sight as she did so.

She swept her leg out and made as if to trip him, watching as he predictably flipped backwards with a smirk on her face. One of her long and thin needles slipped effortlessly out of her sleeve and into her waiting hand, and she stabbed upwards with it, slipping it into the boy's braid and jerking out, pulling out the hair tie that had held it together.

Sora stopped himself mid flip with one hand, twisting towards the thief with amazing balance and dexterity and a murderous look in his eyes.

Blocking the kick he sent her way Mio jumped back, holding the hair tie high back above her head with one hand while she held the other out in front of her to hold off the boy. "Now Sora-chan," She scolded, "You need to watch your temper and share. Being too stingy and selfish is a huge turnoff."

He gritted his teeth, his unraveled hair hanging down to brush his thighs, the strands quivering with his rage. "Why the hell would I care if I turned you on?"

"Now now, I never said that. And Honey," She said, dismissing and belittling him with a look and an amused tone, "Trust me when I say that you'd have to work a hell of a lot harder to even grab my attention. After all, I do have standards."

"WHAT?!"

"I mean you're cute and all, Sora-chan, but you need more in life than just sweet looks." Sora gaped at her before his face contorted with uncontrollable rage.

"I. Am. Not. Cute." He bit out, "And my name isn't SORA-CHAN!" He screamed, moving quickly and throwing a punch, the anger it carried sure to break a few bones. Mio narrowed her eyes and threw a punch of her own, both fighters putting all of their feelings into their fists.

"That." Kori said, finishing the final page of the book and snapping it closed.

"Is." She pushed off of the boulder, moving faster than any mortal could ever dare attempt to see, dashing to her two teammates with narrowed eyes and gritted teeth.

"ENOUGH!" She shouted, stopping each of their fists with her immovable iron hands.

She tightened her grip fractionally and twisted, making them both flip and fall to the ground on their backs and knocking the wind out of the both of them.

She put her hands on her hips and glared down at the now repentant pair. "What the hell do you think you two are doing? We are on a mission, one where you are being a serious threat to the dignity of the name of the Konoha Leaf ninja. What if we had been in the middle of a town with witnesses, or even with civilians that could have gotten hurt in the ensuing fight? What would you two have done? And what if Lee-Sensei were here and not with his wife on her sickbed?" The two sighed and got up, dusting themselves off as they saw the truth of what she said.

"Mio, give Sora back his hair tie." Mio looked around for it, unable to find the item. She smiled sweetly at the blonde, wondering if she was going to kill her. The words on her headstone would be pretty pathetic if she did:

_Tsubaki Mio. _

_Beloved child and friend. _

_Will always be missed._

_Like how she missed the hair tie that could have saved her life._

"Sorry, but I think it must have gotten lost in that whole little scuffle." Kori sighed and rubbed her forehead while Sora bemoaned his fate. It was going to take forever to get all of the tangles he would get on the way home out of his hair, and that had been his last spare since he _knew_ Mio had been stealing them from him. He just had to catch her doing it.

Kori sighed at the boy and pulled her own ponytail holder from her hair, letting her hair tumble free around her shoulders. "Here." She sighed, passing it to the boy as she tried to figure out how they could get home without another one of these time wasting and headache causing arguments. He gratefully took it and moved to the vacated boulder to sit down and braid his hair, his nimble fingers quick as he went through the familiar and soothing motions.

Kori stopped her pacing suddenly as a terrible thought occurred to her. She dug in her bag and pulled out the map that they had declared useless at the beginning of the mission -after all, what kind of ninja needed maps?

Apparently, their kind of ninja.

"God." Kori groaned, clutching the offending document in her hand and then raising her fist to hit her head as if that would beat some sense into her stupid brain.

"What?" Mio asked, concerned over how Kori was reacting. She had never gotten this upset over one of their arguments before, and there had been a _lot_ worse before. "What's wrong? Is it the hair tie? Do you want me to search for it some more?" Kori shook her head and groaned again.

Sora came over, his hair now perfectly groomed, and looked at his team leader concerned. "Kori? What is it?"

"We're going the wrong way." The two blinked at her, dumbstruck.

"What?!"

"The wrong way! We're supposed to go the _other _direction." Mio groaned and covered her face with her hands -though she made sure not to mess up her makeup.

"This sets us behind an entire day! Our first solo mission and we're going to be late!" Kori hit her forehead again.

"God, we suck." Sora growled. Kori suddenly jumped at him and clutched his shirt desperately. "No. We do _not_. We are going to go and we are going to make it and you _will not_ fight no matter what. Do you under stand me?" He nodded and she turned her white glare over to Mio, narrowing her eyes threateningly.

"And you? _Do you understand me?_" Mio nodded, saluting the girl. "Yes Ma'am!"

She nodded and turned, dashing off in the correct direction and trusting her team to keep up with her rigorous pace as only they could do.

* * *

I made sure to show Kori's stronger side in this one because I wasn't able to show all of her character before. She's used to fighting because of Leo and Yuki, so these two don't really bother her when they fight, but it does get a bit tiresome at times.

And yes, Mio and Sora are actually -somewhat- friends. I guess the way to explain it is that they trust their lives with each other and know they can always depend on one another. They just have a lot of fun when they fight. (And I'll be looking more in depth into this relationship because I love it)

And instead of Mio being into girls (I say lesbian in my head, but I guess it would be straight since she's technically a he), She's bisexual. I like this better, so I'm keeping it.

Oh, and guess who got her driving permit? This girl right here did! Though I'm not to be trusted on actual road yet. (We tried that today. I don't think my father has completely recovered yet)

Love you all! Stay off the Kentucky rural roads if you wish to survive to read the next chapter! (Because I can give you no assurances)


	34. Captive, Temari

Once, long long ago in what seemed to be another life, Temari had thought she had known pain. She had thought she had understood it, had risen above it in any form it had taken no matter how powerful it was.

She had known the pain of losing a mother and a father, leaving behind only a man who was in no way the father she had once loved. She had known the pain of growing up without knowing that love, and had known the pain of having a brother which everyone feared. And then she had eventually known the pain of that fear herself.

She had created walls of steel and stone around herself and her heart, ones that were soon bathed in blood as she stood on the other side and covered her ears against the screams of those she damned.

She had learned of the pain of being bested by someone that no one had ever expected, even if there were those who still insisted she was the victor. But she had known the truth was that a lazy _child _had defeated her at the one thing she had even been sure of.

She had felt the sweet pain of having the brother she had never been able to know come back to her, of finally having something not to fear but to care for freely. She had learned how gloriously freeing it was after the painful pinch of the initial fight when it was a fight for something worthwhile.

She had learned about how gently reassuring and scary it was to be trusted with the safety and well-being of so many people, and had felt those little stabbing pinprick pains when they had been threatened.

And then she had known the stabbing pain of having those walls she had hid behind for so long pulled apart stone by irreplaceable stone by an infuriating boy who had suddenly turned into a man, one who wore a lazy smirk that made her stomach tighten in warning.

She had felt the pains of the battles she had survived, of the love she had gained and the life she had earned. She had known terror and had overcome it, had been able to fight past pain and come out the victor. She had always known that she was strong and had felt secure in the knowledge that she would be fine and that nothing could touch her.

She had been so terribly wrong, though she had never learned such truths until it was too late.

This, what she felt now, locked away in the all-consuming darkness with no escape or mercy, was pain. The stench of her burning flesh filling her nose, the cut of a scalpel as it easily split her in two, the cracking of her voice as she screamed for mercy from those who did not have it, the tug of the stitches as they dared to try to piece her back together and the paralyzing chill of the metal table beneath her bare back as their masked faces looked on, devils masquerading as humans.

And the thought of her children and her husband not knowing of her fate, callously moving on with their lives as if she had never been, forgetting her face and forgetting her. That was true pain, pain that threatened to shred her soul.

Sometimes she wondered -on the days when the pain receded enough to allow her to do so- if she was remembering them wrong in her constant effort to never forget their fading faces. Were Asuma's eyes really so big? Kyoko's hair really so silky and soothing to brush? Was her giggle really so sweet and his smile so tiny and soft? Was Shikamaru's smirk really so attractive, his touch truly so firm?

"Stop." Came a familiar scratchy voice from the depths of the darkness.

Temari's head jerked up, blinking as she straightened against the cool stone wall. Her thick and stringy hair tangled down to the middle of her back of her naked and scarred body, now used to the chill the air carried after countless years of being exposed to it and worse.

"What?"

"Stop thinking. I can hear it from over here and it's annoying." Temari tilted her head back against the wall, closing her eyes though it made no difference if they were open or closed. The darkness that she saw was still just as dark either way, though there was something slightly comforting about choosing to feel it instead of it being forced on her.

That was the only choice she was ever given here in hell, whether or not to keep her eyes open or close them.

"I can't stop thinking. It's the only thing the devils haven't taken away from me yet, though I'm just waiting." A high pitched giggle, one that no longer frightened her as it had when she had first heard it. She actually found some comfort in the sound, perhaps because she knew there were much more frightening things outside of the safety of her cell.

"No no no. You know what I'm talking about girly." He giggled again, the sound echoing and surrounding the unlikely pair that were separated what could have been miles of depthless darkness. "Stop thinking about _them_."

"I can't. I won't." He sighed and she heard the sound of clanking chains as he moved his hands to probably pick up the dish of water he was allowed.

"What you're torturing yourself with in that busy little mind of yours does more damage than what the devils can do to you. So stop thinking about it. Release your feelings as if it were a balloon, watching as it flies away high into the sky, to be eaten by some passing bird."

"I don't think birds eat balloons."

"They could if they wanted to, and this bird wanted to. It happened to find red a very appetizing color."

"Ah, so it was a red balloon."

"But of course. But we're getting off topic."

"And what topic was that?" Silence, one that dragged on and made her question if he was even there, one that made her think that she had simply made him up in a desperate attempt to stave off her loneliness. But she pushed the thought away, forcefully reminding herself that she couldn't think like that. Not if she wanted to keep her screams and sanity in check.

"Screech?" She called out quietly to the man, speaking the name she had given him back in the days that they had first met long ago. So terribly long ago. She just wanted to hear something from him, anything, to confirm the fact that the mentally unstable man was really and truly there.

"Girly, forget about them. Don't make them be the reason you give into the darkness. Don't curse them with your tainted soul." Temari clenched her fists, closing her eyes against the surprising truth that lay in his words.

She knew that she should let them go, along with everything she held close in her heart from her old life. She knew that the chains leading out of her heart that she had wrapped around them must be stifling. But while knowing this, she also knew one more sterling truth.

If she let them go, if she broke those chains to tearfully and selflessly release them. She'd be letting her humanity go along with them. They were her everything, the memories of them the only thing she had to hold dearly in the darkness. When her eyes were open it was their faces she painted on the surface of the deafening black velvet that consumed her every other thought. When her eyes closed and blessedly dreamless sleep surrounding her it was their laughter she heard, their kisses she felt.

Screech sighed in defeat, though Temari knew they would have the same argument again sometime in the near future. She was selfish, especially compared to Screech who had let go of the memories of his family long ago, forgetting their names and faces in a desperate attempt to keep even that little bit of them away from the evil that filled the very air they shallowly breathed.

But she would not forget, even if the devils themselves tortured her with the precious memories.

She let her chin fall forward to her chest, resting before they came to get her again. It was almost time for the tests to begin again; her old wounds were already beginning to scab.

And until then she would remember and swear to never forget, building up her strength so that they wouldn't be able to break her as they so desperately tried to do.

_Asuma._

_Kyoko._

_Shikamaru._

_Temari. My name is Temari._

* * *

Just a little something about Temari after a couple years of her imprisonment.

I'm trying to keep her strong, but it's difficult to get the balance right because the stuff they do on her is pretty bad and it will mess her up quite a bit.

Kathy gave me this one and once more took over one of my characters.

Screech, yeah, he wasn't supposed to have a name or a back story or even a face. He was just... there. But now he has all of those things.

Is it sad that my muse likes my characters more than me?


	35. Shattering the Mirror

Yuka smirked slightly at the ruckus going on around her and her sister, propping her elbows on the desk in-front of her as she twirled her foot, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Yuki who was mumbling softly to herself as she wrote down something in the notebook she always carried with her. Everyone else was worrying over the placement of the new genin teams but Yuka knew that no matter what she would be with Yuki, so she had nothing to worry about. It would be interesting to see who their third member was, but it wasn't like they were going to be close or really working together.

Because she and Yuki were a team that only needed each other.

The teacher walked in and everyone hurried to their seats, leaning forward as he started on some speech about their new lives as genin and what not, all of which Yuka fully ignored. It wasn't that she didn't respect the teacher -she respected everyone who was in the field of knowledge- but that she just wanted to get this over with so they could meet their team leader and new teacher.

The teacher called out the names of the teams, the students eagerly leaning forward and hanging onto the every breath the man took as if it were pure gospel. Even Yuki looked a bit excited and Yuka figured that it must have been for their new teammate. Yuki was always eager to see and learn about new things, so Yuka figured that the same would apply with their team and the dynamics and skills they would acquire.

"Uzumaki Yuki, Kotonami Echo and Mori Nado. You will be team six."

Yuka blinked, sure that she couldn't have heard correctly. "Excuse me?" She gasped, jumping up from her seat to lean over her desk urgently. "What? There must be a mistake."

"I assure you Yuka, there is no mistake. Now please take your seat and stop disrupting my class." Yuka stared at him wide eyed, fisting her hands on top of the desk. This couldn't be happening. They couldn't do this. She and Yuki were a team, a single unified being since conception and they couldn't just callously break them apart. They were two halves to a whole, and what would they be without their completing partners?

"Yuka," Yuki softly murmured, tugging lightly on her shirt, "Sit down." She urged, looking up into her panicked sister's face. Yuka turned her attention to her sister and shook her head frantically.

"No! Don't you see what they're doing? They're trying to break us apart! We can't let this happen Yuki! We need to stay together and fight, or else we'll be-" The sharp sound of flesh hitting flesh caused the room to fall into shocked silence.

Yuka raised a trembling hand to her stinging cheek, turning her head slowly to stare at her twin with wide eyes filled with hurt and pained questions, her lips trembling as she forcefully held in her tears. "Yu-ki?"

The girl stared at her sister coldly, looking down her nose at the girl as the class watched on in silent amazement, delighted and shocked at the scene before them. After all, Yuki was the quiet one, the one who followed her sister around and calmed her, kept her in check. She was never the one to stand up and look at her and do anything like this.

"Stop acting like a child." She said harshly, sitting down to wait for the teacher to finish with the team list. Yuka sank slowly into her seat, deaf and blind to the world around her. She felt Yuki stand up and walk away to her new team -her new life away from her- and reached out for her. But her hand fell short and the girl was suddenly beyond her reach.

And she was alone.

* * *

Yuka lay on her bed curled in a ball on her side, her blankets wrapped around her like a cocoon as she stared at the wall and let her tears slip free as she sniffled.

In the life Yuka had always known she would one day lead, there were very few things that she was a hundred percent sure about. She knew her family would love her no matter what, that her father's strength would always protect them until his death, that she would always be able to depend on her friends and be depended on in turn, and she had always believed in what she had thought was the purest truth of them all – that Yuki would always be right at her side no matter what attempted to tear them apart.

But now her entire world had been shaken off of its axis as she was faced with the sudden separation from the one person who had been beside her since birth. It was like she was a new amputee who still felt the tingle of that limb and still looked for it and depended on it.

It hurt.

The door behind her creaked open and she burrowed farther into the blankets, closing her eyes against the cruelty of the world and of those around her. "Go away." She choked out, not caring about what the other person selfishly wanted. Couldn't they see how broken she was?

"Well, it's my room too. I have every right to be here if I want to be." Yuka sniffled, not turning to her twin for comfort like she always had in the past because it was obvious to her that she was going to be just as unsympathetic as she had been during class.

"Why did you slap me? Why didn't you say anything? They're trying to split us up." This final fact was practically sacrilegious to the girl, a blasphemous action if she had ever seen one. Yuki sighed and looked over the figure of her sister covered by her blankets, protecting herself much like a turtle did by receding inside of its shell. She crossed her arms over her chest and sat down on her own bed, staring out the window at the darkening sky.

"I asked for us to be separated." Yuka jerked up, the blankets falling down around her as she stared wide-eyed at her sister, reeling from the sucker punch she had just delivered to her. "What? Yuki-" Yuki looked at her and Yuka stopped, not used to the look in the eyes of her usually calm sister. She looked so fierce, so sadly and intensely fierce, Yuka knew she hadn't just done this on some whim.

"Have you ever listened to how people call us? Yuka and Yuki, Yuka and Yuki, Yuka and Yuki. They say it as if we're one person, they don't even take a breath. They expect to see me going along with you, walking behind you like I'm your shadow." Yuka shook her head, wondering where all this had come from.

"You're not a shadow, Yuki. I've never thought like that."

"That doesn't stop others from doing it, Yuka. I just want to make them see me as more than an extension of you. I want them to see me and not say, 'That's one of the twins', but I want them to look and say 'That's Yuki'. All I want them to do is just take a breath, Yuka."

Yuka looked at her and saw exactly what she was saying. Everyone saw them as one entity, even Yuka, and she had always been happy that they were like that. It had always felt so right, so perfect to be half of a whole, to hear "Yuka and Yuki" when people spoke of them. But she had never thought that Yuki had ever thought any differently.

She had always looked at the two of them as a mirror, reflections of one being that both of them were content to stay as. But Yuki, desperate to separate and find her own self was shattering that mirror and forcing her out of the delusions of them being happy as they were.

It hurt, those jagged shards dragging down her skin and leaving hot streaks of blood that dripped down her flesh like tears, but she knew that the pain in Yuki's eyes was just as hot and just as sharp, and nothing in the world hurt her more than her twin's pain. She roughly rubbed her fallen tears away and sniffed the rest back, sitting up straight as she met Yuki's eyes determinedly.

"You'll tell me next time something like this happens? You won't go behind my back?" Yuki nodded, smiling softly at her sister, her best friend.

"Yeah."

"You'll come to me if someone hurts you?"

"As long as you do the same."

"We'll still stay together? Go down to the library and everything like always?" Yuki blinked, shocked that she would ever consider that she would want to leave her completely.

"Of course! You're my best friend, Yuka. Nothing is ever going to change that." Yuka nodded and sighed, the last of her tears fading away.

"I'm going to be lonely." She said, getting up to walk over to stand in front of the other girl.

"I'm sorry." She said softly, truly regretting every ounce of pain she would cause her. Yuka smirked and held out her hand, jerking the other girl up beside her when she took it.

"You should be. Now I have to make friends with some stupid random boys." They smiled at each other for a minute before Yuka linked her arm with Yuki's. "Come on, let's go get a snack to go and run off to the library to spend some time together. Maybe we can finally figure out the Big Papa scroll."

"When on earth did we decide on that name?"

"We didn't, but it's fitting. That thing is as tall as Dad."

"But the name is ridiculous." Yuki protested as they walked down the stairs and Yuka rolled her eye and prayed that they would still be allowed to be like this in the troublesome times to come.

Because she never wanted to lose that precious other half.

* * *

Tada! Okay, to my newest commenters (Hello my precious little cuties! Hello!):

Ninquelot- Do not fear! There is a plan! Dry your tears and smile your beautiful smile! The end of all of this Temari angst will come!

Mizuki-chan Uchiha- I love you! I read your comment and was filled with joy and happiness and I smiled so wonderfully that my family thought I was crazy (I am, but still). Thank you for the comment and here, have a cookie! (And might I say that you have a positively adorable name)

And on my deviantart account (link in profile) I've posted some doodles of my kids and a comic thing to go along with this chapter. I'm not the best drawer, but I just like to doodle the characters and get my thoughts straightened out. I put them up so you can get a better grasp of the designs of the characters in my head if you want to see them.

I love you! You're beautiful and give me as much joy as the free cookies and doughnut twists my local grocery store gives out. (They're delicious)


	36. Cookie Kisses

Hinata shifted Mino in her arms to knock on the door of the familiar apartment, snatching Leo's hand quickly so he couldn't go and investigate what had moved in the bush over near the road since it obviously couldn't have been _the wind._ Sending him a stern look she looked back up and smiled at her pink haired friend as she opened the door. "Hello," She said sweetly, tugging on Leo again so he would leave the bug he was suddenly fascinated with alone. Sakura opened the door a bit wider and grinned.

"Hey, come on in. Ino is already here and Tenten called to say she couldn't come for about another hour or so. We probably should have thought about how having kids would destroy our girl time, huh?" Hinata smiled and walked into the living room to find Ino laying back on the couch, a sleeping toddler curled into her side.

"Yeah. Even when we do get together we end up spending more mom time with our kids than grownup time with each other." Ino declared.

Leo sagged, practically going limp as he dragged his feet, the only thing keeping him up the firm hold his mother maintained on him. He sighed heavily at the prospect of having to sit and listen to his mom and her friends talk about silly girl stuff, seeing nothing but a long bleak road of boredom before him.

Sakura smirked at the pitiful sight and motioned to the sliding glass door that led out to the back yard the apartment building had. "You can go join Jiro, Ringo and Anzu if you want Leo. They're out there playing." He jumped up and began a mad dash to the freedom that the door held, though he was stopped by his mother's still firm and steady hold.

"Moooom." He wined, wishing that she would just let him go and have fun with the other kids.

"Just a minute." She scolded, hoping that someday she'd be able to give the child something that at the very least resembled patience. "You won't run off and will stay in the yard?"

"Yes."

"You'll be responsible and will come and get me if anything happens?"

"Okay."

"You won't play any ninja games?" He widened his sapphire eyes at her, pained at the prospect of not being able to show everyone the neat new kunai his father had gotten him. "But Mom-"

"No."

He huffed and hung his head, deciding that it would be better to just give up and go outside before she made his sit inside with her. "Fine." He grumbled, and Hinata let him go, watching as he raced out to play. She sat down in the free armchair, adjusting Mino so that he could sit comfortably on her lap, studying the entire room with watchful white eyes.

Sakura smiled at him and waved, the child only watching her disinterestedly. "God Hinata, he looks more and more like you every time I see him." Hinata smiled gently, a flush of pleasure painting her cheeks as she smoothed his hair.

"He is the least Naruto-like of all the children." She allowed, the three of them going on to discuss the latest changes in their lives.

Momo's brow scrunched up at the sudden increase in volume, the noise the three women made rousing her from her peaceful nap. She opened her eyes and frowned, turning her head to look blearily at the new-comers who had so rudely disrupted her. Her eyes suddenly shot fully open and she jerked up into a sitting position, blinking at Mino in fascination. "Momo?" Ino asked in concern, sitting up with the girl to place a soothing hand on her back.

Momo held her arms out and opened and closed her fists, reaching out to Mino and grunting in frustration when her mother caught her before she fell off of the couch, also keeping her from reaching her goal. Ino blinked at her youngest daughter and then looked over at what the child was so suddenly focused on, lips twitching when she noticed. "Ah, I think she noticed Mino." She laughed, holding onto the struggling toddler.

Hinata smiled and moved over to the couch, sitting Mino down beside her and watching as Momo determinedly crawled over the remaining distance separating them to plop herself down beside the boy. She cooed as she reached out played with a soft piece of his dark blue hair studying his white eyes as she pet his face, the abused child just sitting there and allowing her to do as she liked. Suddenly the girl leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the boy, cuddling him close and pressing a slobbery kiss to his cheek and melting the hearts of all three of the women in the room.

"Oh my God, Sakura go get your camera! Aren't they just the cutest?" Ino cooed, clasping her hands together and watching them with stars in her eyes. Sakura walked back in with her camera and started snapping pictures, her heart melting at just how adorable they were with Momo snuggled up with Mino and Mino sitting there with a resigned look on his face as he allowed her to do as she wished.

"Oh, isn't this just perfect? Momo, do you like Mino?" The toddler nodded and tightened her hold, her ringlet curls bobbing. "Momo wuvs Mino. Mino is soooo cah-ute!" She declared, reaching her hand up to pet his hair. Sakura smiled and snapped another picture, peering over the camera at her best-friend.

"Well, she's definitely yours. There's no way anyone else's kid could be that shallow."

Ino waved her away. "Oh hush and take the pictures." She looked over at Hinata and grinned. "Isn't this fantastic? Their names even sound great together: Mino and Momo, Momo and Mino. It's perfect!" Sakura rolled her eyes but dutifully continued to snap the pictures.

"Really Ino, I don't think you should be picking out the wedding china just yet."

"You know, you could stop being such a downer and just bask in the irresistible cuteness of these two. Right Hinata?" Hinata nodded and smiled sweetly as Momo pressed another kiss to Mino's cheek, her heart melting at just how adorable the scene was.

"Mom, we're hungry." Ringo declared, striding into the room without a care in the world, the two younger boys following her lead and acting with the same nonchalance she had, not minding the grass stains or the forming bruises and sweeps of dirt on their skin. Ino glared at the three of them, Anzu coming in and holding her hands up innocently.

"I tried to stop them." She declared, going to sit in the vacated armchair, as neat and tidy as when she had first gotten dressed that morning. Sakura chuckled and went into the kitchen to get some snacks, ruffling her son's hair as she passed him.

"What on earth were you doing? Mud wrestling? How can you get this dirty in under an hour? Really Ringo, why don't you to play gently like a lady?" Ringo puffed her cheeks full of air and crossed her arms.

"Because it's boring, Mother."

Sakura came into the room and sat down a plate of sandwiches and cookies. "Ino, they're kids. Kids get dirty. Live with it. Now who wants some snacks?" The kids scrambled for them, their mother's warning them to grab a sandwich before a cookie.

Mino and Momo were both handed a cookie each. Mino nibbled on his cookie delicately while Momo bit of chunks, filling her cheeks with the snack food as she looked at Mino from the corner of her eye. She swallowed, crumbs covering her cheeks, and shook her head at him.

"No-no, Mino. You eat like dis." She said, grabbing his cookie and shoving it into his mouth. Hinata snapped a picture, laughing at Mino's wide eyes and filled cheeks and the pleased expression on Momo's face.

"That's better." She said, nodding and wiping the crumbs off of Mino's face and licking them off of her hand.

* * *

This is just a little something I thought up.

I've always had it in my head that Momo and Mino would be friends of a sort, but all the sudden this developed. Soooo... Tada!

And their names do sound cute together. Say it: Momo Mino. Momo Mino. Momo Mino.

Now switch it around and do it again: Mino Momo. Mino Momo. Mino Momo.

There's more to the story of these two, but I also have other stories thought out so all the parts might not me immediately forthcoming.

Kisses my darlings!


	37. Being a Girl

Kyoko peeked over the edge of her book and down to the row of seats below her and onto the form of one Yamada Ranmaru. She blushed lightly and quickly peered back down onto the dull type on the pages before her, peeking up once more to see him looking up and towards her. Of course, she knew that the boy could never really be logically looking at her, but it was still a nice thought that had her whole face flaming red and made her quickly focus once more on the words before her.

"Um, hey." She looked up and saw Ranmaru's best friend Ren standing beside her wearing a devil-may-care grin and rocking back and forth on his heels. She didn't know why he was there since she had never even spoken to him before, but she figured that if she gave him a minute he'd get around to it.

"What are you reading?" Kyoko blinked, fumbling with her book to try and recall the name that she had suddenly forgotten, even though she had read it nearly a dozen times. "Um, _Foreign War Tactics and Peace Policies._" The boy blinked at her.

"Seriously?" She blushed even brighter and nodded. Suddenly the boy started laughing, holding his sides as if the laughter pained him.

"Oh, oh God! Hey Ran, did you hear that? _Foreign War-_ I can't even say all of that! The name alone is boring enough to put you to sleep, why would you read something like that?" Kyoko's embarrassment receded beneath the overwhelming wave of mortification that she was soon drowning in.

Tears filled her eyes as she kept them downcast, her hands trembling as she held the thick book in a desperate grip. Did he have to be so loud? Everyone was staring, she could feel it. Why had she decided to read in the park on one of the staggered benches that surrounded the concrete stage where the local bands held their mini concert? It was so public and so horribly terrible.

"Ren, shut up." Ranmaru hissed, coming up behind his friend to put him in a choke hold, blushing slightly in light embarrassment as he looked back up. "Listen, I'm sor-" But there was no one there, Kyoko having run away as soon as the boys had been distracted and she had been able to find escape.

She slowed down when she had gotten the appropriate distance away, hunching over slightly and holding her book tightly to her chest. She knew that it was supposed to be boring like the text books they had read during school, but she _liked_ it. Books like this were the kind of books that her grandfather and father had flipped through with her when she had been little to keep her mind busy, the kind of books that she had read with Asuma before they fell asleep on those missions their father had taken, the facts forcing their minds off the fact that they could be losing their other parent.

Why was that bad?

She kept her head down as she entered the house and walked into the living room, letting the book slide out of her hands and onto the coffee table, flopping bodily down on the couch and onto her stomach, burying her face into the cushion beneath her.

Shikamaru stepped into the room to investigate why his daughter hadn't gone to get her usual snack like she did whenever she came home in the middle of the day on her days off as a genin, pausing as he took in her position.

"Something wrong?" Kyoko grunted, not bothering to look up at her father or move from her completely limp pose. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. He knew that pose. It was the same one that her mother had used when something had managed to depress her. Of course, this was just before she managed to get pissed off and in his experience trying to talk just brought the 'pissed off' part around a bit sooner.

So he eased out of the room, going into the kitchen where Maria was sitting at the table waiting for his return, flipping through the newspaper to try and find something interesting to read.

"So, is Kyoko home?" She asked, twisting a piece of her hair around in sequence with the spinning of her foot.

"Yeah, but you need to go talk to her." Shikamaru said, sitting at the table and wiping his hands of the entire thing. Kyoko was far less likely to get mad at Maria than him.

Maria rolled her eyes at the man, already guessing that his laziness was the largest contributing factor to Kyoko suddenly needing a talk, but she still stood up and went to the girl.

"Hey," She said, sitting down on the free space on the couch that the thin and boney girl had left, looking at the sight she made. "What's the matter?" Kyoko twisted her head so that her face was turned towards Maria, and sighed heavily.

"Am I boring?"

"Nope." She answered, believing it completely. The girl was a ninja after all, there was no way she could be boring. Kyoko rolled her eyes, acting like every other young teen girl when faced with a truthful compliment.

"No I'm not. I read boring books, I wear boring clothes, and I have boring hair." She said, looking her baggy clothes over with disgust and tugging on one of her pigtails. "I mean, if Asuma was taller we'd get our clothes mixed up, and I've worn the same hair for years. I don't even know what I look like with my hair down."

"Ah." Was all that Maria said, prompting the girl to peer at her questioningly.

"What do you mean, _'Ah'_?"

"Ah as in, _'Ah, I see and I understand.'. _And since I see and understand, I now know the solution to your problem." She said, getting up and striding back into the kitchen. "Hey, Shikamaru, give me some money so I can fix your daughter." He sighed and grumbled about how troublesome everything was but he still gave her his wallet so that she could take as much money as she deemed fit plus one of his cards.

She smiled sweetly and handed the now lighter wallet back, walking back into the living room to drag Kyoko up off of the couch and out of the door, making her way merrily down to the town center while a still depressed Kyoko along with her.

"Maria, what are you doing? Why did you take money from my dad?" Kyoko pulled on the hold the woman had on her wrist, wanting to go back to her house and hide away from all of those judging eyes. "And why am I with you?"

"So we can go shopping."

Kyoko blinked at the obviously crazy woman. "Shopping? Shopping where?" Maria stopped, turning the girl so that they were facing the little clothing store she had determined to be perfect. The clothes in the window were cute and stylish, the shop itself charming and tidy.

"Here!" She declared, shoving her through the doors enthusiastically.

Kyoko flailed her arms around, desperate to grab onto something and stop her decent into depths unknown. She had never been into one of these girl shops, all of her clothes having been bought at bigger faceless stores where she simply went with her father and brother into the boy's section, all of them too afraid to even dare to venture into the girly part of the store. The only time she had ever ventured over into that part of the store was when she was with her Aunt Ino to get underwear, and that had become so desperately embarrassing that she usually tried to go alone now and grab the first package she came across.

They got through the doors and Kyoko looked around, wincing at just how... feminine everything looked. She felt like a fish flopping around in the desert and all she wanted to do was just go home and get back to comfort and familiarity. But there was a very determined woman behind her who wouldn't let her, instead pushing her deeper into the store.

"Maria... what?" Suddenly the woman stopped and stepped in front of the girl, turning and motioning widely.

"Go ahead, look around."

Kyoko shook her head, wrapping her arms protectively around herself. "No thank you." Maria rolled her eyes at her and tugged her to one of the racks.

"See all of this?" She asked, lifting up some of the shirts. "These are clothes. Nothing to be afraid of, just something to appreciate. These aren't overly cute or frilly, they're very simple. But they'll fit you better than what you're wearing now. Just look around and find some things you like and try them on. If you need any help I'm right here. I'm pretty much an expert at this stuff."

Hesitantly Kyoko reached out and rubbed the fabric of one of the shirt sleeves between her fingers, slowly pushing the hangers aside to study the clothes carefully, not really sure what she was looking for. Did she want something cute? She didn't think cute clothes would look good on her, but maybe something sporty. She was tall and thin, so sporty clothes should look good on her, right?

Eventually it got so that her arms were stacked high with shirts and jeans and such, most of which had been forced onto her by Maria. She stepped into the dressing room and dropped the pile on the bench, pulling the curtain closed and tugging her baggy clothes off. She had just picked up the first pair of jeans when Maria slipped through the curtain to join her.

"Maria!" Kyoko gasped, trying to cover herself as best as she could with the pair of jeans in her hands. Maria waved her embarrassment away, looking over the boney girl.

"Oh hush now, you're not my type. I like em lean, dark, and handsome. And I lean more towards men." Kyoko widened her eyes at the woman, wanting to shrivel up and die.

"That's not why I'm embarrassed! Maria, I'm naked!"

"No, you're in your underwear. We'll get you some more of that too while we're here." The girl visibly paled at the thought of that hellish experience, shaking her head frantically.

"No. No no no no no." Maria rolled her eyes at the girl but decided to let the subject rest.

"Fine, just come out here when you've got something on."

An hour later Kyoko watched as Maria studied the outfits they had chosen critically, nodding when she was done. "I was right, simpler things look better on you." Kyoko looked at one of the outfits -a red t-shirt dress and dark gray leggings- unsure about it. "But when am I going to wear this? It's short and I'm a ninja, and I don't really wear dresses anyways."

"But that doesn't mean you shouldn't have one, especially one as versatile as this one. And you have leggings to make up for the shortness." Kyoko followed her to the register, but blinked when Maria walked past it.

"Ah, Maria...?" She then saw where the woman was headed and ran to stop her. "No! Maria, let's just leave." Maria sighed at the girl.

"It's underwear, Kyoko. It's not that big of a deal, and you need new ones."

"Why?"

"Because. When you wear cute underwear you feel more confident, more like a woman." Kyoko looked at the lunatic disbelievingly, not really all that sure why she liked the woman. She might have been pretty but her logic could use some work.

"Maria, it's something no one sees."

Maria wagged her finger at the girl, smirking at her. "Ah, but one day someone will. And no one has to see it for you to be confident because of it. It's a sexy little secret that no one needs to know about but you."

"Maria, I'm thirteen. I can't be sexy. I don't _want _to be sexy." Maria rolled her eyes at her again and continued to push her into the little section of the store that the girl fought so vehemently against.

Kyoko blushed until she swore her whole body was red, wondering why such a private thing should be displayed so publicly in the store. There were people passing by and even though they weren't looking at her they _could._

"You know," Maria said conversationally, studying a lacy pair that had caught her fancy. "This will go faster if you just cooperate." Lowering her head Kyoko began to pick through the pile -why on earth were they all piled in a bin?- trying to find something to appease the woman.

When they were finally –oh good God, _finally_- out of the store and making their way back, Maria threw her arm around Kyoko's shoulders. "Well now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Kyoko blew out her breath in a heavy and burdened sigh, feeling so indefinitely tired.

"I hate you." She grunted and Maria merely laughed, tugging her up the steps to her half of the building they shared instead of letting her go to her own home. "Oh God," Kyoko groaned, not even bothering to fight to woman anymore. "What now?"

Maria grinned and ushered her inside. "First I'll show you how to properly wash all of this and then I'll teach you how to put on makeup."

"Makeup? Maria... Why?" She asked, dropping her bags down in the laundry room. Maria smiled.

"It's a skill every woman needs to know."

"_Why?_"

"Why not?" She asked, shrugging, going through all the clothes and explaining it to the girl, dragging her up the stairs as the machine whirled and sitting her down at her vanity.

"I don't use foundation or anything like that- it usually makes people look ridiculous because they try and cake it on- but I like to focus on the eyes, which is what we'll do with you." She grabbed her little brushes and smiled gently at the girl. "After all, you have such beautiful eyes."

Later Kyoko studied her reflection as Maria stood behind her and brushed her hair. Her eyes now seemed wider and darker and smokey, the sharp angles of her face made softer by the blush Maria had brushed on her cheeks, the lip gloss making her lips shine. With her hair down she looked girlier, the awkwardness hidden and making her look almost pretty.

"Maria... there's this boy." Maria fought to keep the smile off of her face, though it was hard since she had figured all of this out hours ago.

"Oh?"

"And... he thinks that I'm boring."

"Well, he doesn't sound very smart."

"Oh he is!" Kyoko was quick to protest. "He was one of the top students in my class. And _he _didn't say I was boring, his best friend did. But he probably thinks it." She sighed and met Maria's eyes in the mirror, silently asking her for help.

"If he thinks that he's an idiot." Kyoko's lips twitched and then she sighed, studying herself once more.

"Maria, am I pretty now?"

Maria sat the brush down and smoothed her hair, smiling down at the girl. "What do you mean now? You've always been pretty. This stuff isn't meant to make you pretty, it's meant to show other people that you're confident and comfortable. The prettiness is all your own." Kyoko faintly blushed.

"Thank you." She said quietly. Maria nodded and brushed her hands off.

"Now then, let's get you in one of those outfits and go show your dad. I bet we'll leave him speechless."

Kyoko smiled.

* * *

Shikamaru looked down at the two boys on his doorstep, making them both fidget under the strength of his stare. "What do you want?" They shifted from foot to foot, swallowing past their nervousness.

"Um, I said we were here to see Kyoko. Sir."

"And?"

"Ah..." Ranmaru rubbed his sweaty palms off on his pants and tried to figure out if it would be better to just retreat or not. "Well, you see..."

"Dad?" Everyone turned to look down at Kyoko and just stared. "Ren? Ranmaru? What are you two doing here?" Kyoko blushed and hoped that she hadn't somehow messed up Maria's handy work. The way everyone was staring at her was unsettling.

"K-Kyoko?" Ranmaru blinked, flushing as the girl's eyes met his. They seemed so... big. "Um, ah, you look..."

"What's on your face?" Kyoko looked up at her father and smiled sheepishly.

"Makeup. Maria and I had a girl's day." Maria waved from behind the girl, smiling at the group and holding in her laughter. This was all just too funny.

"You look good." Ren said, earning an elbow from Ranmaru, a hard look from Shikamaru and a blush from Kyoko.

"Ah, Kyoko. I just wanted to apologize for what happened earlier. I asked Ren to see what you were reading and I guess it would have been better if I had just gone and talked to you myself."

"You..." Kyoko wondered if her face could get any redder. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Well yeah." The boy said, scratching the back of his head and blushing just as red as the girl. "I've wanted to talk to you for a pretty long time." Kyoko sweetly smiled at him, happy as she had ever been.

"I've been wanting to talk to you too!"

"That's great." Ranmaru said, both of them standing on the steps and grinning at each other like fools.

"Um, hey. There's this movie and..." The boy blinked as Shikamaru moved past him, picking up Kyoko by her upper arms and carrying her into the house, setting the girl behind him as he stared at the foolish children before him.

"Ah..."

Kyoko peeked around her father, smiling at the boy. "I'd love to go to the movies with you."

"Really? That's great. Saturday at five?"

"Saturday at five." She confirmed, smiling at the boy until her father closed the door on the sight of him. As soon as it was shut she turned to Maria and wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging her as tightly as possible.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" She squealed, releasing her to run up into her room and laugh over just how wonderful life was.

Maria grinned at her receding form, "He liked you before the makeup!" She called out, still smiling as she turned to face Shikamaru.

"What did you do to my daughter?"

"I helped her come out of the shell she was in. Come on now, it's just a little makeup and clothes."

"Boys, Maria. And boys." She laughed and made her way back to the kitchen to grab a snack. Shopping and changing lives really worked up an appetite. "Really now, I didn't have anything to do with that. He was here even before he got a look at how she looks now."

Shikamaru sat down at the table and closed his eyes, suddenly tired. "Troublesome. Teenagers are so troublesome."

* * *

A few points:

No1) No, clothes and make up do not make a person pretty. That thought is shallow and petty.

No2) Kyoko and Ranmaru aren't really a forever thing. They're 13.

No3) Yes, pretty underwear can give you confidence.

A shout out to my newest little darling coreejones.52! You make me so happy and I love you so much! I promise I'll resolve the ShikaTema thing as soon as Kathy will let me. (And no, Temari is not dead. None of my characters will be dieing in these stories.) And thank you for saying that I have talent! I practically squealed like a little girl at that!

Here, have a doughnut.

I love you all, my amazing and precious darlings! Until next time! Caio! (look at me being all sophisticated!)


	38. Simmer and Burn, InoCho

Oh, I am so sorry this one took so long! But this one is for my sweet baby xaburame15 who, last month, said this:

**"I dont know if this is a scenario( sorry if its not) but like for choji and ino you could make it like a 2-man life threatened mission that got ino to see choji as boyfriend material other then her bestfriend."**

Well, I know I said that I wouldn't really do anymore InoCho because I just didn't really feel the juices with flow with them story wise (hence the month wait), but when my most precious darling asks for it I WILL DELIVER!

* * *

Ino sighed roughly as she sagged into the seat, her head falling froward so that it hit the wood of the kitchen table in a very familiar spot, one she had come to know frequently in the past few months.

"What happened this time?" Sakura asked, picking up one of the chocolate covered strawberries that Ino had been so kind to bring with her. Really, they were probably the only reason that she had let the blonde in the door. That and maybe because she happened to be best friends with the girl.

"I just... don't know..." She sighed, talking into the wood. Sakura picked up another one of the delicious treats and studied it, wondering if she really should eat it. After all, since she had had Karin keeping weight off felt like an uphill battle, those last five baby pounds stubbornly clinging to her waist. And sure, Kakashi didn't complain, but she just didn't feel all that kindly towards the new softness to her belly.

But the damned treat was just calling her name.

"Sure you do. Just get it out already, I don't have all day to just sit here and wait for you to talk. I'm very busy" She said, biting into the treat delicately and savoring the flavor as it exploded into her mouth. Ino sighed again.

"It's just... Choji."

"Hmm."

"We... I don't really know. It's like we're just walking around in these circles again and again and again, and I'm starting to get dizzy. We haven't even slept together yet."

"That's a record for you. It's been, what, near six months now?" Ino sighed again, nodding her head against the table in confirmation. "So why is it that you're getting dizzy and keeping your pants on?"

"There isn't anything wrong with _him_, in fact it's kind of the opposite. He's a really great guy. He's nice and sweet and considerate and thoughtful and just... great. But I just can't sleep with him. It's like... when we do that, we won't be able to go back. He won't be Choji, my-best-friend-who-I'm-dating, he'll be Choji, my lover, and we won't ever be able to look at each other the same again."

"Why not?" She asked, picking up yet another one of the little devils. She'd just have to borrow one of the physical therapy wing's exercise machines and work it off.

"Were you able to look at Kakashi as your teacher after you slept with him?"

"Point taken. Proceed."

"Well, usually when I'm dating someone there's this... burning, you know? Like a fire that would burn everything at the slightest touch. But with Choji it's more of a simmer, and I'm afraid that that means it just won't work between us. Maybe we just aren't right for each other."

"Or maybe a simmer is better than a fire." Ino tilted her head towards her, looking at her questioningly.

"The fires in your past relationships burned out, and there really wasn't anything you could do because you went through all of your fuel too quickly. But when everything is on simmer it can last and you can even turn up the heat when you want to so you can keep things... fresh. A simmer would probably suit you better because you burn your fires too hot." Ino stared at her for a moment and was about to retort when Kakashi walked in with Karin on his hip.

He sat the girl down to grab a bottle of water out of the fridge and she walked wobbly over to her mother, lifting her arms so that she could be pulled up into her lap. "Did you have a nice nap?" The woman asked the soon to be four year old, brushing her pale bangs out of her eyes. She nodded and silently leaned her head against her mother's chest, not yet fully awake. Sakura unconsciously grabbed another strawberry, looking at it in mild shock and annoyance.

She had already had five and she knew she had to stop or else the softness at her waist would become an even bigger problem. But it was just so tempting, sitting there calling out to her like it was, seducing her with deceptively innocent and sweet looks.

Just as she was about to cave her fingers were surrounded by a pair of warm lips, dark eyes flicking up to meet her's. Sakura felt the flush growing on her cheeks at just how suggestive her husband was being even with both Ino and Karin there, and she ignored the little and familiar tingle of pleasure to instead glare at him.

"That was mine." He straightened up and chewed, slipping his mask back in place before Ino could see the face he kept hidden from everyone but his family. "You didn't want it anyway. I was just doing you a favor." He paused for a moment.

"You're welcome."

Sakura fumed, glaring at the receding back of her husband as he left the room to head to a meeting he was already an hour late for. He could have made it on time, but Karin had decided to take a nap with him in his bed and he hadn't wanted to disrupt her sweetly sleeping face.

"He doesn't even like sweet foods!" She declared, looking over to find Ino staring at her drolly.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just that that didn't look very much like a simmer to me." Sakura flushed and tossed the stem from the strawberry at the girl. "Shut up! We were talking about you!"

Ino rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and I didn't really get it." She held up her hand before the pink haired girl could protest, setting up. "Don't bother. If it doesn't make sense to me now it probably won't when you explain it again. And anyway," She said, looking over at the small clock that hung above the stove, "I've got to go. I've got a mission meeting in about ten minutes. You can have the rest of the strawberries!" She called, walking out the door.

Sakura glared after the girl and then over at the offending plate, knowing that if she even dared to think about it she'd cave. Looking down she nudged her daughter awake, knowing that it would affect the child far less than it would affect her hips. "Hey Karin, do you want some strawberries?"

* * *

Naruto passed Choji the mission scroll. "I picked the two of you because you work good together and because I thought it was best if there was a medic nin on the mission as well, and with your particular abilities I figured that you'd be the best suited for the mission, Ino."

"The mission is for the two of you to sneak in and try and find an experimentation lab hidden in the mountains. We have tips that they have captured children and are doing experiments on them, some of them continued from Orochimaru's notes. We need to check this out before something really bad comes out of this. If you _do_ find the facility do not try to rescue them on your own because you'll just screw it up. Try and figure out their numbers and report back so we can get enough people together to kick the bastards' asses. Got it?"

"Yes." They both said, nodding. They left Naruto's office and passed by the latest in the lines of Naruto's assistants. This one had an absurd amount of makeup on her face and ridiculously bleached hair. Her shirt was pulled down so far that it was illogical that her breasts even managed to stay inside the cloth at all and was so tight that she looked like she'd rupture her spleen if she dared to even breathe. She was currently sharpening her blood red talons and as they passed by she gave them a once over, her nose twisting as she took in Choji.

That bitch.

Ino knew what it was like to look at Choji and just see his size and the way he always had a bag of chips at hand -she had done it herself when she had been younger and stupider- but Choji was so much more than what that narrow minded bimbo was seeing. Really, she should just walk over there and teach that girl a lesson by pulling out her absurdly cheap looking extensions. After all, no one looked at her Choji like that.

"Hey, meet you at the gate in an hour?" Ino nodded and they separated to go and pack for their mission, though a part of Ino wanted to go back and give the tart just what she deserved. But, since she figured rescuing innocent children from impending doom came first, she went to her apartment.

* * *

Ino jumped from branch to branch in the high tree tops, not having to focus on her leaps as she dashed through the forest faster than the eye could see, this lack of focus leaving her mind free to focus on her pink haired friend's earlier words.

She was so used to the familiar and overwhelming burn of desire when it came to her relationships with men that this low simmer forced her to take pause, to stop and try and figure out what to make of this new low and pleasant heat. She knew how to handle the fire –you just screwed each other's brains out until it died- but how did she handle this?

Thinking back to Sakura's words and to her past relationships, Ino could understand what her friend had meant. They had all been so hot, so focused on sex and on the heat of the moment that before she had noticed it they had all ended, and it wasn't that any of them had ended badly, they had all just sort of died and faded away. But after so many times and so many dead fires that had once burned so brightly, she had found herself alone with only a bad taste in her mouth and a heart that had never even had a chance to be scratched.

Wasn't that what had made her end up with Choiji? That depressing realization that she was stuck with piles of ashes spread around her, alone in a world where everyone else had suddenly found exactly what she hadn't known she had wanted and had no way of knowing how to get? That was what had sent her to the rooftop that night, and maybe that was what had made her kiss Choji. Maybe it had been something of a last ditch effort -an effort filled with desperation and depressing sadness- that had made her shift those few inches and kiss Choji that first time to try and find the answers.

And suddenly, leaping through those high trees, she found them.

There was nothing wrong with her relationship with Choji, nothing wrong with him or with her or with the heat that spread between them. Those old fires had burned too brightly, threatening to incinerate everything that dared to wander near their heat until they eventually even burned themselves, but what she had with Choji was better.

It was like the warmth of the sun on her face during a clear summer day, like the comforting feeling of a cup of hot chocolate in her hands while the winter chill beat at her door. It was like the pleasant feeling she had when she woke up in the morning after a rare full night of sleep, wrapped up in her blankets as she peacefully and lightly dozed.

It was like the feeling of her hand being surrounded by his, quietly and happily reveling in the strength she found in his gentle hold.

She had always loved Choji as one of her best friends, a strong and dependable man who was there for her at every unpredictable turn, and she could slowly feel herself stepping hesitantly down an unexplored path, one that would lead her to a deeper and more dangerous depth of feelings.

And she found that she didn't really mind that thought.

Her musings were suddenly interrupted as her sharpened senses detected a weapon hurtling towards her. She leaped up and back, pushing off of the branch just before the unidentified projectile hit, disintegrating the place where she had just stood in an explosion of wood splinters and fire.

Ino continued to leap rapidly from branch to branch as explosions followed in her wake, feeling the bits of wood scratch at her skin and feeling the heat of the flames as they licked at her heels. Sweat began to roll down her face as the the heat rose, her breath coming out in shallow pants as she tried to focus stay ahead of the bombardment. She heard the sudden sounds of a fight behind her but she didn't turn to look, instead zigzagging through the branches to make sure there were no more explosives coming to her before dropping down, pushing off of the trunk of the tree on her way down so that she went towards where she could hear the sounds of the struggle.

The noise stopped but she continued until she felt a presence at her side. She was already and automatically reaching for a kunai to attack the person but stopped when a familiar and large hand caught her wrist, the chakra signature suddenly registering to her.

"How many were there?" She asked Choji as they turned and continued on their original path, now on high alert for the enemies that had no doubt sensed the explosions and fight.

"Just two, but there will be more soon." Ino nodded and they continued on, fighting their way through the enemies they met up with, eventually finding a tree with branches that twisted to make a dense curving wall, the perfect cover for them to get a bit of rest and heal before going on and finding the facility. Ino focused on healing Choji's arm where he had taken a kunai, her forehead furrowing in concentration.

"Did you get anything out of the guy when you looked at his mind?" He asked, referencing to the briefly held captive they had had earlier. She had only had six minutes with the man but he had been weak willed so it had been easy to break into his mind, though it hadn't been so easy to sort through the jumbled mess of memories he had held inside of him.

But yeah, she had gotten something.

"They just moved the facility because someone tipped them off that interested parties were seeking them out, and they left these guys here to destroy the old place and take care of any intruders that came before they were done."

"Did you get where they're at now?" Ino shook her head as she finished closing his wound, brushing her fingers lightly over the now smooth and freshly healed skin. "They didn't tell them. Apparently someone was supposed to come and pick them up a couple of days ago but they didn't."

He nodded, both of them understanding that this organization had sacrificed these people mercilessly, not caring in the least whether they lived or died when the inevitable search groups came through. He settled back against the tree trunk, planing on taking a brief but invigorating nap while Ino took first watch but said blonde kunoichi shifted a little closer to him and placed her hand on his arm, making him pause.

She looked away from him and off into the dense leaves, obviously trying to find her words. "I've been thinking."

"Oh?" Choji questioned, bracing himself, wondering if this was the talk he had been feeling coming on for a while now. She was always distancing herself, always finding some excuse. Maybe their relationship was reaching it's final and inevitable end.

"Yeah and I was wondering if -when we get back- you want to come over to my place for dinner." Choji blinked, his tensed muscles relaxing in the face of his confusion. She was asking him to dinner while they were on a mission? Was it really that important? True, food was always important to Choji but Ino had never put too much stock into it but for the nutritional value and calorie count.

"Dinner?"

"Dinner." She confirmed, nodding. She paused, almost seeming to hold her breath as she turned to give Choji a hooded look through her eyelashes. "And maybe... desert?"

The meaning of her words hit him right in the gut, leaving him to stare at her breathlessly and wordlessly. He managed to dumbly nod his head and she smiled at him brightly. "Good, it's a date. You better get some sleep." He nodded again and she moved away to take first watch, leaving him to stare at her back wide eyed as he tried to catch his breath.

Apparently, he still had a chance to keep her, one that was getting bigger by the moment and one that he wouldn't be stupid enough to squander.

* * *

Not exactly what you asked for, but still, look! InoCho!

I got the idea when I was shaving my legs (seriously, I usually get my ideas when I'm washing my dishes or taking a shower. Maybe Kathy likes water) and suddenly my beloved muse popped in and went, "Bitch, put that razor down before you cut yourself like the idiot you are and get your laptop." So, tada!

And I know you also asked for KakaSaku (Welcome to the team! Here, have a cookie and a complimentary pencil.), so to hold you off a bit I added them in there at the beginning.

I have a list of requests coming together, but I'm always happy to take more! I live merely to make all of you beautiful people happy. (But I won't promise whose will come out first because I write by whichever idea hits me or wakes up Kathy. But I can promise you that I'll write it for you eventually.)

Until next time!


	39. Raining Cats and Dogs

I was going to write a KakaSaku fic but this one came out instead.

So, in his first all-about-him-fic, introducing *Drum roll please*: Jiro!

* * *

For Jiro, things had always been pretty easy. He had always known that he would be a medic nin, though he couldn't even remember why he had decided such a thing anymore. He just knew, straight into his very core, that it was what was right for him. That the hands he trained to kill would also be trained to heal, to bless.

Very few people at the age of twelve had things figured out and he included himself in that league. He didn't know what he wanted out of life when it came to stupid things like marriage and kids, but he did know that he wanted to fight and protect and heal. And he also knew that he wanted to have a summon.

This is where things got more difficult.

True, he could have easily asked his father and the man would have proudly helped him get his own ninken, but he wanted something to help him when he finally fulfilled his dream, and to his knowledge the ninken were never ones to heal. He also could have gotten the healing slugs that the Godaime Hokage had had, but they were really gross.

So he had found himself at the front door of the Uzumaki's large home, knocking as he hoped he would be able to find what he was looking for. Hinata was the one who opened the door, smiling softly at the boy as she wiped her hands off on the hand towel she had carried out of the kitchen.

"Jiro-kun, what a pleasant surprise. Did you want to see Leo? He's not here right now but-"

"Actually, Hinata-sama, I wanted to see Yuka and Yuki." The woman blinked and smiled again.

"Well, sure. Come on in." She said, motioning him in and closing the door behind him. "Yuki, Yuka, Jiro is here to see you." She called up the stairs, two identical dark blue heads poking over the upstairs banister.

"Jiro?" Yuki puzzled, looking down at the pink haired boy.

"You don't really come calling on us. What's the deal?" Yuka bluntly asked. Hinata sent a sharp look to her daughter, making the girl's ego duck down to avoid the devastating blow.

"Yuka, I'd like to think that I've instilled _some _sense of courtesy and manners into you. Now, come down stairs and into the kitchen so you can talk. I just made some chocolate cookies." Both girls were quick to get down the steps, just barely restraining themselves from sliding down the banister and getting another look from their mother. They sat down at the kitchen table, each of them grabbing a cookie and accepting a glass of milk from their mother as they looked across at the boy.

"So what do you want?" Hinata cleared her throat, continuing to wash the dishes as she listened to the children's conversation. "What? He obviously wants something! _Why else _would he be here to see us?"

"Actually, I want to ask you two a question." The twins blinked at the younger boy, though they were used to people asking them questions they had never really expected Jiro to come to them because usually he just found the answers in books like they did.

"Oh. Well, shoot." He nodded and swallowed the bite of cookie he had just taken, wondering if he would be able to steal a few and take them home with him.

"I was wondering if you know anything about summons."

"That's a pretty broad subject." Yuki said, shifting in her seat and lacing her fingers together atop the table as she flipped through her mental files, instantly finding several of them on the subject though he'd have to narrow it down for her before she'd have anything definite.

"I was wondering about what the certain types are able to do."

"And you want us to go through all of them? That's not exactly a short order."

Jiro slumped into his seat, sighing as he felt his task getting suddenly more complicated. If the twins didn't know, he just didn't know who would. "So you can't help?"

"Oh, we could, but we're not perfect. Some of it is a bit fuzzy, and it would probably be best if we went to the library and look it up. It would be easier and take less time than going through every single thing we remember."

Jiro blinked at them, stunned. "The Yondaime's library?" Very few people would ever have the honor to look upon such a place, let alone be personally invited to look at a book.

Hinata looked over her shoulder to eye the two girls and they both quickly shook their heads, waving away the very thought before it got them killed or seriously grounded. "No! We meant the other library. The _normal _one. They should have a book about it there." Hinata nodded and continued with the dishes.

"Alright then, you can go, but make sure to get back before supper. And Jiro-kun, you can take some of those cookies with you." He nodded his thanks and got up, grabbing a few of the snacks to go.

* * *

"So you guys go to the civilian library too? Not just the Yondaime's?" The twins nodded as they looked over the spines, rapidly searching through the titles for the one they wanted. Jiro thought briefly about helping but instead decided to lean against the bookshelf to watch the two girls as they almost seemed to dance, knowing the moves of their partner and moving along with each other perfectly as they twisted between shelves.

He thought it was kind of weird that they didn't just stick to one shelf each instead of moving back and forth, but he didn't say it. After all, they were doing all of the work and it was their choice how they did it.

"Ah-ha!" Yuka shouted, pulling out an absurdly big of at least two dictionaries thick. "_The Encyclopedia of Ninja Animal Summons_. Just what we were looking for." She carried it over to the nearest table easily and sat it down, the table creaking under the sudden and heavy weight. Yuki stood beside her so they were shoulder to shoulder, Jiro -thankfully taller than the two of them- peeking over their shoulders.

"So, what are you looking for?"

"Something to help with healing."

"You could do slugs." Yuka suggested as they began to flip through the pages, their fingers sliding across the words as they rapidly skimmed through them.

"No thank you. I'm not a slug kind of person."

"Well..." They were silent as they searched the pages, eyes rapidly flicking over the words and flipping the pages so quickly that Jiro was unable to even glance over a few of the words. He resigned himself to just stand behind the pair, waiting for them to say something to show they had found a clue. Suddenly they paused, looking over their shoulders, shockingly pale blue eyes glowing triumphantly.

"How do you feel about cats?"

* * *

Jiro flipped through the much smaller book he had checked out of the library about the cat summons, reading about them with a sense of rightness.

_Cat summons are not usually used for combat, though they do have some fighting merit. They are often used for their stealth and have amazing balance, speed, acrobatic skills and their animal senses. They, unlike dog summons, do not travel in packs, though they can work together. They are arrogant and often lazy and only give their affections to a chosen few which is why they stay with only one summoner._

_Cat summons also have a sixth sense towards people who are ill or dying, often lying beside them and sending soothing chakra through their systems to calm them and ease small amounts of their pain. While they do not have the ability to heal people themselves they have an affinity with the art and..._

Jiro sat the book down beside him and reclined back against the pillows on his bed. He now knew exactly what he wanted and figured that if he asked around he'd be able to find someone who would be able to help him make the contract, but the real problem lay within his own apartment. In fact, it was over in the living room.

"Jiro, come on! Dinner's ready." His mother called out, and Jiro sighed as he pushed off of the bed. He might as well face the firing squad now. He trudged into the dining room and sat down, looking over at his father as he tried to figure out just how to go about this. While he didn't know how the man would react, he was sure that it wouldn't be good.

Karin poked her head into the window, white hair falling into her mint green eyes as she grinned at the pair of men at the table. "Mom?"

"In the kitchen." She nodded and slipped the rest of the way inside. "Mom! I'm HERE!" She yelled, her mother shouting back that she had heard her come in. The nineteen year old walked over and threw her arms around her father's shoulders, kissing him noisily on the cheek as she kicked one of her legs up theatrically. "Hello Daddy." She said, practically gushing happiness.

"Hey. How's your new apartment working out for you?" He asked, putting his book down so that he could focus on his eldest child. She almost seemed to skip over to the other side of the table to ruffle an indignant Jiro's hair, beaming at every familiar thing in sight.

"Oh, it's terrible." She said, smiling at the man. He blinked at her, trying to connect her elated mood to the fact that her new home was terrible. "Oh?" She nodded, plopping down on her seat. "Oh yes. The pipes rattle, the window stays cracked no matter _what _I do, and the restaurant downstairs makes the place smell like Chinese food." Jiro blinked at her, wondering how -even after all these years- his sister still managed to baffle him.

"So what's so great about it?" He asked, his half-mast eyes blandly questioning her. She rolled her own eyes at him, picking up one of the rolls from the bowl her mother had sat just down, biting into it viciously.

"It's mine, duh."

"That's it?" He asked, and she nodded, accepting the bowl of stir-fry her mother passed her.

"That's it."

The ninken wandered into the room, settling in front of their own plates and Karin grinned. "Pakkun! Bull! Urushi! Shiba! Bisuke! Akino! Uhei! Guruko! Hey guys! I haven't seen you guys in forever!" Pakkun sighed wearily at the girl.

"You saw us when you were here two weeks ago for supper."

Suddenly the girl's jacket pocket began to rustle and Karin pulled out the wriggling object, holding up a tiny white ball of fluffy fur. The small pug stiffened as the unnaturally adorable creature turned its wide eyes on him.

"Pachi!" The small creature chirped, sing-songing the strange nickname she had given to the dog. The dog shuddered as the palm sized creature leaped out of her master's hand and onto the floor, bouncing over to the older dog. Karin grinned at the pair as her tiny summon nipped at Pakkun's paws, jumping up to hang onto his ears as she growled playfully.

"Oh yeah, I brought over Pochiri. She _really_ wanted to see you, Pakkun." The pug tried to shake off the creature but -as always- she hung on, thinking that it was all a big game.

"I'm too old for this." He grumbled, resigning himself to the torture.

Jiro waited for a pause, glancing between his parents as he took a breath, hoping for the best. "Speaking about summons, I've decided on what I want to do." Twelve pairs of eyes landed on him and stared, waiting.

"I've decided against the dogs." He said, and though said dogs grumbled they had figured that was what would have happened, and at least they wouldn't get stuck with another Pochiri.

"So you're going to sign the contract with the slugs?" Sakura asked, hiding her smile behind her glass of water. She had had a bet with Kakashi about which summon he would choose and apparently she had won. After all, she had known that Jiro would choose healing over the dogs. But everyone at the table was surprised when the pink haired boy shook his head.

"So, what is it? What did you choose?" Karin asked, something telling her that the answer was going to be really, _really, _bad.

"Cats." The boy said, the entire apartment falling into complete silence at that single word. Suddenly the ninken began to growl, their fur standing up at the mere mention of the hated cat summons. Kakashi, a dog person through and through, looked at the boy aghast.

"No." He said, wondering how to get the boy to see the light. Sakura put a soothing hand on her husband's arm and looked at Jiro, concerned that if she didn't settle this soon either her son or her home would be destroyed.

"Jiro, why did you decide on cats?" Jiro leaned back into his chair and met his mother's gaze determinedly, already having decided that this was the path he would take.

"They have a lot of abilities that I like and an affinity for healing." Sakura could see where the boy was coming from, but she could also see the direction her husband was determined to push him towards. And looking the both of them over she decided that she'd just have to side with her son on this one. After all, she liked cats and she didn't like people pushing her baby.

Kakashi, not knowing about the mutinous intentions of his wife, glared at the boy. "Jiro, we do not allow cats into this house."

"Why not?"

"Because we're dog people, not cat. Did you even look to see if the dogs have an affinity?" Jiro blinked and thought back over everything he had seen from the ninken, trying to remember if the dogs did in fact have such an ability.

"Kakashi, the ninken have no such thing and you know it." The white haired man turned to his wife, narrowing his open eye at her.

"They could have."

"But they don't. Stop acting like a grouchy old man and just let the kid have his cat."

"I'm not acting like a grouchy old man-"

"Yes you are. You are one." Sakura interrupted, causing the man to have to restrain himself from throttling her.

"And he can't have a cat because it will affect the ninken if we let it just run around here."

"It can stay in his room or just go back to wherever it is the cat summons are from."

"Sakura-"

"Don't you _Sakura _me. If he wants to have a cat summon he can have a cat summon. Got it?" She asked, narrow eyes raking over the dogs on the floor and over her husband, all of them falling back against the ruthless assault of her glare, nodding as they took cover.

Karin, completely unphased by the whole thing since it was all pretty much normal for her family, poked her brother in the arm. "Hey, pass me the pasta, will you?"

* * *

I've had the whole cat thing planned out for a little while, and you'll hear more about it later on.

It didn't make Kakashi very happy.

And about Karin's summon, I didn't really have a breed planned out for her. She's just and extremely tiny, extremely clingy and extremely fluffy dog that absolutely adores Pakkun.

A _real _KakaSaku fic is soon coming, and to my sweet darling Ninquelot, I swear that I'm not torturing you! I'll write the rest of Temari's story out soon!

I love you all! Kisses!


	40. A Plan in Motion, KakaSaku

Here's a KakaSaku fic as requested by my sweet darling xaburame15 who quite literally made my week when he posted this comment:

**"this chapter was so good it had so many things going on it was like a clash of a awesome frenchfry"**

...

...

DO YOU KNOW HOW HAPPY THIS MADE ME? God, I swear I love you more and more each day. You are the best thing ever! Even better than the doughnuts they sell at my local grocery store (and those friggen things are practically orgasmic)!

I give to you the crown of pure awesomeness and total coolitude. Wear it proudly, dearest one. You have earned it well.

* * *

Sakura, as a doctor, was able to understand. Though she had had always used birth control diligently the pill wasn't a hundred percent, and the chance that a mistake could happen was always possible. Not very, but still possible. If they had been using the condoms and birth control like she had originally wanted she wouldn't be in this mess but Kakashi had poked at her until she had let him forgo the extra protection, figuring that since his tests were all negative and since she was on very reliable birth control they'd would be fine.

It had worked for the past two and a half years, all but for one time. But as a doctor Sakura was able to understand that it only took one time. Hell, any pre-teen who had been forced through a health class understood that it only took once.

Sighing and falling back so that she lay on her bed Sakura brought her hand up to her abdomen and sent a gentle and searching trickle of chakra into her system until it came across the very problem that was interrupting her chakra networks, the fetus beginning to quietly redirect her chakra to better protect itself for the upcoming nine months.

She was pregnant.

God _damn it_.

She knew that she could get rid of it -and really that was the best option for her future, but as she lay there and brushed around it, feeling the living being that was inside of her -not even the size of a grain of rice- she knew that she just couldn't do it. Not to her child.

But how would Kakashi feel? He was responsible so he'd probably give her his support, but would he want it? After so long of keeping everything a secret from their friends and those who would judge them, would he be willing to come out and express a claim so easily? Taking a breath she pushed all of that aside momentarily, getting up and getting ready to go out to tell someone before she made herself sick over worrying about it.

She made her way to the Yamanaka flower shop, carefully making sure not to think of the subject until she had someone dependable to talk to. She couldn't go and find Tsunade at whatever bar or gambling house she was currently at because the woman would probably hunt down the famous copy ninja and destroy him, and Naruto was _definitely _out because of his overprotective brotherly attitude towards her. So that left her with Ino, and even with this she knew she was getting the short end of whatever stick life was handing her.

She walked into the shop, the tiny bell above the door chiming her entrance cheerfully, alerting the blonde at the sales desk to her presence. "Hey! I'll be finished up here in about twenty minutes if you can wait that long." Sakura nodded and brushed her fingers lightly over the vibrant and soft petals of the flowers in front of her. There was no one around, she could say it now if she wanted to.

"Hey Ino? If I tell you something, could you promise to not tell anyone?" The blonde snorted, leaning against the counter with a smirk on her face. "Yeah sure."

"Ino," The pink haired girl said quietly, making the blonde pause, "Can you promise?"

"Yeah." She said just as quietly, knowing that if she was going through such lengths for an actually binding promise that whatever was affecting the girl was serious. "I promise. Sakura, what's wrong?"

"I'm pregnant." Sakura said, blinking at just how... easily it had slipped out. It hadn't been so bad, saying it out loud. Sort of like reporting about the weather, though she was sure that this should have been a more joyous occasion. Ino gaped at her friend, dumbstruck by the words and the girl's easy attitude. "Pregnant? Are you sure?"

"Yes." She said, picking up one of the tulips to bring it up and sniff. Ino, for once in her life, couldn't find any words. How could her best friend -the girl who used to burst into tears or have uncontrollable fits of rage at the slightest prompting- be so calm and collected over something as cataclysmic as this?

"Do you know who the father is?" Ino knew her friend hadn't been in any relationships -she obviously would have told her- but maybe it had been some one night jig. Ino knew _plenty _about those. Sakura hesitated slightly, wondering if this would come out as easily. This wasn't something she had only found out about less than an hour before; this was a secret she had carefully guarded for nearly three years.

"Yes."

"Who?" She took a bracing breath and glanced back over her shoulder, not wanting to meet Ino's eyes but still wanting to look and see her reaction.

"Kakashi." Complete silence filled the shop as Ino found that she couldn't even breathe, let alone speak.

"_WHAT?_"

Sakura turned all the way around, facing her best-friend like a lone soldier facing the enemy's battalion. "I said that Kakashi is the father."

"_The _Kakashi? Hatake Kakashi?"

"Yes."

"Your ex-teacher, the great copy ninja Kakashi?"

"Yes Ino."

"When-" The bell chimed again, a kindly faced woman wandering in. "Hello! I was wondering if you have any Sunset Roses? You see, my daughter's dance recital is tonight an-"

"Hey, can't you see we're closed?" Ino snapped, glaring at the now flustered woman.

"But the sign says-"

"The sign is broken. So sorry. Here, as an apology take this red rose and some baby's breath. They're better for dances." She ushered the woman out, quickly locking the door and flipping the sign over so that the angry red face glared out at the street. She leaned back against the door and stared wide eyed at the pink haired girl that stood across the room. "When did all of this happen?"

Sakura went behind the counter and sat down in one of the chairs that sat back there, suddenly feeling the weight of the day lying heavily on her shoulders, Ino quickly following so she wouldn't lose sight of the girl. Sakura brushed a few strands of her hair behind her ear with a sigh, curling her legs up in the seat with her. "A little more than two years ago."

"Sakura, I don't think pregnancies work that way."

"No," She chuckled, shaking her head. "We've been sleeping together these past few years, ever since the night of Naruto and Hinata's engagement party." Ino's eyes bugged out of her head comically as her jaw almost seemed to hit the floor, and she had to wonder if the day would throw anything else at her. Not only was her best-friend pregnant but it was with her ex-teacher's baby. An ex-teacher she had been sleeping with for over two years now, right under all of their noses.

"How the hell have you managed to keep this a secret for so long?"

"I really don't know. It was just never really that hard, I guess, and the few times we almost got caught were more exciting than anything."

"But for two years? Why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you tell _me?_" Sakura shrugged. "Would you have been able to keep quiet about it? Would you have been able to not judge me? Are you even able to do either of those now?" Ino shook her head at the girl.

"_Of course _I'm judging you; I've always judged you on even the smallest things, and that doesn't change the fact that you'll be my friend no matter what I judge. But the thing that I'm really focusing on right now is that you can't trust me."

"I'm sorry, but you're not really reliable when you need a secret -a juicy gossiping secret- to be kept." Ino nodded, seeing the truth in her words that went hand in hand with the slight hurt, but she pushed that aside. "Well, what are you going to do?"

"First? First I'm going to tell Kakashi. I'm not getting rid of it, and I guess we'll just have to find a way to work everything out." Ino sighed, sagging wearily back into her chair. "Right. Well, before that you need to tell me about the goods. Does being older make a difference?"

Sakura let a small smirk twist her lips. "Oh yeah." She said, settling in as she prepared to make it up to her best friend, though the information about most of her trysts with Kakashi would have to remain secret to the blonde woman.

There was no need to make her jealous.

* * *

Sakura watched as the chicken in the pan in front of her browned, the smell of the frying meat filling her apartment and would have made the pink haired kunoichi's mouth water had she smelt it, everything in her focused on the task before her.. She knew Kakashi was coming over tonight -the ninken had told her so before she had ushered them out- and she knew that she had to tell him.

But how?

Easing him into it was out of the question since Kakashi refused to be eased into anything but she feared for his health if she just brought it up just out of the blue. But should she even be worrying? Would he even want to be a part of their child's life? Or her life after he learned about how her body had betrayed them?

A slight breeze brushed at the exposed nape of her neck, the beloved scent of sandalwood and spices filling her senses as the warmth of a light kiss followed the path the breeze had just taken across the back of her neck. Roughly calloused and scarred hands settled comfortably on her hips, a strong body pressing up against her as they settled into a familiar and comfortable embrace.

Sakura relaxed back into his hold, eyes fluttering closed as his warmth seeped into her and soothed her, deceiving her into thinking that everything would be alright so long as she could remain right here in his arms. But she knew that eventually she'd have to leave the protective circle of his arms and face the truth, though whether or not he'd be there beside her when she did so had yet to be decided.

"Hey." He murmured, propping his chin on her shoulder to watch her cook –something he always seemed fascinated by. Probably because he hadn't been able to have very many homemade meals before her and because it tickled that little neanderthal instinct in him.

"Hey. Umm… Kakashi?"

"Hmm?" Sakura swallowed her nervousness and fear in one big gulp, praying that by the end of the night she'd have a more definite direction to head towards and his support along with it.

"Can we talk?"

"Of course. What's the matter?" Sakura tried to block out the deep and raspy baritone of his voice, forcing herself to focus on putting the newly fried chicken on a paper towel so that the majority of the excess grease would get soaked up. She turned off the heat to the stove and pushed the pan filled with still popping grease on the cool back burner, collecting herself. "You should probably sit down." She suggested, stepping away from him.

He shrugged and sat at the small table in the kitchen, watching as his young lover began to nervously pace back and forth in the confined space of the tiny kitchen, wringing her hands together in a uncertain gesture that didn't suit his usually confidant lover.

"Sakura. What's wrong?" Sakura took a shuddering breath and quickly turned to face the man, quickly blurting out the words before she could change her mind. "I'm pregnant!" All of the color drained from her face as she pressed a hand to her turbulent stomach. "Oh God," She gasped, feeling lightheaded now that she had told him, though it wasn't with relief, "I'm going to be sick."

Kakashi quickly jumped up from his seat and pressed the pink haired girl down into it, pushing her head down between her knees so that she could start breathing normally and get past her sudden nausea. He hoped to god it wasn't morning sickness.

"Kakashi," She moaned, lifting her head up to look at him pitifully, "What are we going to do? I-I want to keep the baby but…" She faded off, wanting the man in front of her to tell her what to do, wanting him to help her find her way through her turbulent feelings and doubts to the right answer.

"You want to keep it?" She nodded, watching the man who was crouching in front of her with wide eyes, waiting for him to come up with the perfect answer. "Then we'll get married."

Well, that certainly wasn't it.

"W-What?" She blinked at him, wondering if the sudden shock had caused some sort of mental damage to the man. _"WHAT?"_

"I said that we'll get married."

"Kakashi, are you feeling alright? Maybe you should sit down and let the shock pass." She said, shoving his forehead protector back so that she could press a cool hand to his forehead. Kakashi took her hand away from his face and held it his own, looking at the girl with exasperation. "Sakura, I'm fine."

"Obviously you're not." She said, going to smack him on the arm only to have Kakashi catch that hand and hold it as well. "Kakashi, I'm not going to marry you just because I'm pregnant! God, are you stupid or something?" She tried to jerk her hands out of his grasp but he merely shifted his hold to her wrists, remaining firm.

"I never said it was just because of the baby. Sakura, I want to marry you because I love you." Sakura glared at him through the strands of hair that had fallen into her eyes during the brief struggle they had had over dominance.

"Well, that's funny because this is the first time I've heard about your oh-so honorable intentions." She shoved forward to try and regain control of her hands but Kakashi saw her trick from a mile away, pulling her off balance and down to the floor, rolling over on top of her and holding her down so she wouldn't get away.

"Just because you haven't heard of them doesn't mean that they're not there." He smiled down at her as she glared, arching to try and buck him off, though it was all for naught since he just continued to stay above her and smile that stupid smile.

"Well, it doesn't matter what you say or what the circumstances are, I'm not going to marry you. So get. Off!"

"No."

"Kakashi," She sighed, relaxing back after another few minutes of pointless struggle. "I'm not marrying you, not when it's just for the baby and especially not when Ino is the only one who knows about us."

"Ino?" She nodded sheepishly, "Ah, yeah. It kind of slipped out when I told her that I was pregnant."

"You told Ino about the baby before you told me?"

"It was practice, you know? Preparing myself for the real deal. Of course when I practiced I didn't think it would turn out like this." She said, thinking about the sudden proposal and the way she had found herself pinned to the floor.

"So you don't like that people don't know about us?"

"Well," She shrugged as much as possible in her current position, sighing as she relaxed, figuring that since she'd probably be there for a while she might as well get comfortable. "With the baby coming we do need to start telling people or else we'll both have a lot to explain in a few months."

"Alright then." He said as he sat back, allowing Sakura to sit up and watch him warily, wondering about the look that had briefly passed through his eyes. She didn't know what it had been but whatever it was worried her.

Suddenly he stood up and dragged her into his arms, using a transportation jutsu before she could blink or make a sound of protest and she found herself taken from her apartment and in the middle of... Ichiraku Ramen.

The usually rambunctious shop was oddly silent as Sakura pulled back from Kakashi to see most of her friends -Naruto, Sai, Hinata, Shikamaru, Choji, Shino, Kiba, Neji and Tenten- having what appeared to be an impromptu get together over the Hokage's favorite meal.

"Kakashi? Sakura?" Naruto puzzled, taking in the sudden appearance of his ex-teacher and friend and their embrace with confusion. Everyone was staring at them, Sakura's bare feet were in something that was sticky and she was wearing her lazy clothes with messy hair and no make up in public.

She didn't know what was going on but she knew that the next time she was alone with Kakashi without any witnesses she was going to _murder _him.

"Don't worry, we'll be out of your hair in a few moments. We just came to do this." He said just before he gripped Sakura's chin and turned her face towards his, tugging down his mask quickly and tilting his head so that no one would see his face as he kissed Sakura deeply and thoroughly.

In front of _everyone._

There was no time to struggle and fight, only surrender to the familiar and overwhelming heat. When he pulled back she briefly tried to follow but he held her in place, her head falling to his chest so she could catch her breath. Kakashi, his mask having put magically back in place before he looked up, smiled his usual crinkle eyed smile at the stunned group before him before disappearing in a puff of smoke with Sakura still in his arms.

It took a few breathless moments before Sakura had enough brain cells to register the fact that she was back in her apartment and when she was finally able to move it was to push away from Kakashi and throw a chakra filled punch at the bastard. "What the hell was that?!" She screamed, the white haired man quickly dodging her sudden but expected barrage of life threatening blows. He was quick to subdue the woman and she found herself pinned again, though this time they were on the couch so it was at least comfortable.

"Calm down." He cautioned, adding chakra to his hold to strengthen it so that she wouldn't be able escape.

"Calm down? _Calm down?!_ Kakashi, I'm so far from calm that it's almost laughable. How could you _do _that? Just... do that?"

"You said you wanted people to know, so now they know." Sakura looked up at him disbelievingly, wondering how on earth she was supposed to make her future with this man work. Hell, she didn't know how they had gotten through the past couple of years.

"Yes but I wanted to tell them by sitting down with them in small and controlled groups to contain the more violent reactions and to explain everything. What you just did was stupid and... God, what do you think all of those people are going to say?" He looked down at her, not having to search her for the answers, already knowing them because he knew her.

"And do you care about them?"

"Yes!" She looked up into his patient and disbelieving eyes and sighed. Damn him. "Well, no, not really. But that stunt is going to cause the both of us some grief." Kakashi shifted, moving both of her wrists into just one of his hands, though his iron grip never slackened. His newly freed hand slid down her side and onto her hip, settling on the spot where her shirt had ridden up to reveal some of her skin, his warmth seeping into her and making her shudder deliciously.

"I won't mind it. Whispers always fade, and it isn't like they'll affect our relationship. We're the only ones that can change anything about that." He paused and looked down at her stomach, Sakura's eyes following to settle on the spot where her child -_their _child- was growing. "And him. Things will change when he comes around."

"It might be a girl." Sakura protested instinctively, but she didn't bother arguing or yelling anymore, feeling her anger miraculously fade away as it always seemed to do when she was around Kakashi.

"It won't matter what it is." Kakashi said, reaching up to tug his mask down around his throat before retuning his hand to her waist. "It'll still be ours, and that's all that matters." Sakura felt her heart melt, just turn into a puddle of slush right in her chest as she looked up at the man that -for some inconceivable reason- she loved.

He lowered his head to nuzzle her throat, nipping at the flesh he found and eliciting a moan from his young lover. He made his way up her throat and to her mouth, their mouths meeting in a heated and yet slow kiss, their tongues meeting so that they could tangle together in an arousing dance that made shivers race pleasurably up her spine. His one hand kept both of hers captured above her head, his other traveling under her shirt and over her skin, the rough callouses creating an erotic friction against her skin.

He pulled back and nipped at her lip, looking into her clouding eyes with his stormy black one, the look in them making her insides tighten and beg for more, her body screaming at him to touch her. "Move in with me." He growled and Sakura blinked at him. He was apparently in a committing mood today when she just wanted for him to make her melt just as he always had.

"Why?" She panted, wondering if she could somehow get out of his hold and attack him to just take what she wanted.

"I've been meaning to ask for a while, and since you don't feel like marriage we can go with this. This way we can all be together plus we won't have to sneak around. And I want to. I want to live with you, Sakura." How could she say no to that? How could she say no when he said her name like that? When he looked at her with eyes like that?

"Fine, but I don't want to move into that dinky apartment of yours. We'll find a new one together." He grinned impishly down at her, a smile that so very few people would ever be able to see or even connect to the great copy ninja Hatake Kakashi. A smile that she absolutely adored.

Just before they were about to meet in another kiss to seal the deal an incessant pounding began to echo throughout the small apartment, followed by a familiar and very unwanted voice. "Oy! Open up! I know you're in there, so don't bother pretending you're not!" Naruto shouted. "I want to know what all of that stuff at Ichiraku's was and I want to know why the hell you were doing it in front of me while I tried to eat! Don't make me send the ANBU in there, because I will! As your Hokage I order you to- Ouch! Hey! Hinata! Stop it! I just want to beat the crap out of the bastard and..."

Sakura sighed as she felt her arousal evaporate into thin air in the face of Naruto, Kakashi letting out a short and colorful curse that she agreed with explicitly. "Okay, let me up so I can help Hinata out with that idiot." He released her and sat back, tugging his mask back into place as he watched her straighten her clothes so that she was presentable enough to go and beat the crap out of her dear friend and Hokage.

He figured that the moving in together was a good and solid step, though it would have been less trouble for her to just say yes to him when he had said they were getting married. But since he knew that he'd have her making her vows to him within the next four months he wasn't that worried, everything in his life falling perfectly into place. Though there was one thing -one little worry- that he'd have to hide from his soon to be bride.

He had to make sure to remember to switch her birth control back since what she had been taking the past month or so had only been sugar pills.

* * *

Yes, Kakashi switched out Sakura's birth control with sugar pills. Why? Well, she was actually the main person who kept everything a secret and in the beginning tried to restrain the relationship to just sex. Kakashi wanted a bit more (If you remember in the chapter _What is a Name_ Kakashi is thinking about the fight he had to go through to get Sakura. And the fight was with Sakura herself because I guess she was kind of afraid to go that next step).

She'll never find out about the pills being switched. It is a secret Kakashi will take to his grave.

To Ninquelot: I love those ideas! They're on my list and I'll make sure to get them out eventually since the majority of them are already written in my head.

About the last chapter (because there have been comments and I forgot to put it on there):

* There was another fic (KakaSaku) that done cat summons as Sakura's summons, so cat summons weren't my idea.

* All of the information, however, was mine. The whole healing thing is actually real (That they stay beside sick and dieing people and can calm them, not the chakra stuff). We had my Maw-Maw in a nursing home and when she was dieing and everyone was staying in her room with her the nursing home's cat stayed with her, laying with her on her bed until the night she died. Then it left.

Some people do believe that cats have something of a sixth sense towards death, and so I incorporated that in there.

* And yes, cats and dogs do get along together very well a lot of the time (Our outside dog sleeps together with a cat in his dog house). I just went with that whole ridiculous generalization in the last chapter because I needed Kakashi to act that way.

Well, see you soon! I love you all and hope you lead the most amazing lives possible.


	41. An Unbending Hope, Shikamaru

This one is for my sweet baby Ninquelot, who said:

**"...think about writing a chapter where Gaara and Kankuro visit Shikamaru before you bring back Temari home. They are family even if she's not there."**

And so, my darling, I have written it! Hahaha!

* * *

Shikamaru was awake when the door opened, the sleepy shuffle of his son's small feet across the wooden floor making his mind automatically work when all he wanted it to do was sleep. Asuma came over to the bed and crawled up into it, grunting as he gripped the sheets in an iron grip to pull himself up. Shikamaru could have gotten up as soon as the little blonde had first cracked the door open but his children had always gotten an amazing amount of satisfaction from "waking" him up in the morning.

He crawled over the sheets and to his father's side, poking him in the cheek to prompt him to wake up. Shikamaru cracked his eyes open to stare into the wide green eyes of his son, taking in the boy's oddly solemn expression. Stretching out all of the kinks that a night of good sleep gave him Shikamaru tried to think of a reason as to why his son would look like he did. Usually he was more excited first ting in the morning. Shikamaru paused halfway through his stretch when Asuma spoke up, wide eyes staring at him and threatening to swallow him whole.

"I peed my bed." Well, that explained his expression.

"Alright."Shikamaru sighed and popped his neck, picking the boy up to take him into the bathroom. He spent the next twenty minutes bathing the boy and changing him into fresh clothes, having to repeat again and again that it was fine, that he wasn't mad and that he wasn't going to yell. After helping him with the toilet because the child's remarkably tiny bladder had to be relieved again Shikamaru started down stairs, Asuma hanging onto his neck and the soiled bed sheets in his arms.

Kyoko was sitting at the kitchen table in her usual spot, sipping a glass of orange juice proudly. "Daddy! I poured my juice all by myself so now you don't have to!" The seven year old declared, and Shikamaru ruffled her hair as he passed her, wondering how on earth she had managed to actually spill so much juice on the counter. There were signs of her trying to be responsible and wipe it up with paper towels, but all she had managed to do was push it farther back to where she couldn't see, the soggy paper towels laying forgotten in the mess.

"Good job. But from now on put the cup on the floor when you pour so that you won't spill as much." He advised as he sat Asuma down in his booster seat, going over to finish the job that his delightful daughter had created for him. She nodded happily, sipping from the cup as she kicked her socked feet back and forth beneath the table.

Shikamaru briefly thought about saying something about the value of matching clothes since one of the girl's socks went up to her knee and was a dark purple white the other stopped at her ankle and had white stars on it, but he figured that as long as he didn't let her go out in public like that it would be fine.

"What does everyone want for breakfast?" He asked, shoving his hair out of the way so that he could peer into the fridge and try to see past the juice packets and fruit cups to find something that they could all stomach.

"Pancakes." Kyoko declared, Asuma instantly nodding in agreement. "Pancakes." He confirmed, the two of them making Shikamaru sigh. He _knew _letting them stay over at Choji and Ino's while he had been locked up at work the other night had been a bad idea. Choji had apparently amazed their little minds by fixing meals that were made from scratch with foods they had only ever seen come out of a box, and now they were constantly demanding for him to do the same.

He peeked into the freezer. "We have waffles. They're like pancakes, and all I have to do is pop them into the toaster."

"No! We want you to make pancakes!"

How the hell was he supposed to do that? True he was a genius, but that didn't extend into cooking. He might have been able to bum something off a neighbor, but that just seemed like too much trouble for so early in the morning. He briefly tried to remember where those cookbooks that he and Temari had found in the cupboards when they had first moved in, but he gave up.

He looked back into the fridge and pulled out the box that contained the pizza they had ordered a couple of nights ago, setting it in the middle of the table and flipping the lid back. "Here, cold pizza." Seeing the look on his children's faces he sighed as he sat down. "I don't know how to make pancakes, so I'm not going to try."

The two children, used to their father's lazy attitude when it came to things like this, gave up their dream of fluffy and warm pancakes, instead digging into the wonder that was pizza for breakfast.

* * *

He had Asuma up under one arm while they searched for the boy's shoes with Kyoko pulling on the leg of his jeans, pestering him as she asked again and again if her hair looked pretty because -wouldn't you know it- she had decided to do it herself. He spared the hairstyle a glance and took in the way one of her pigtails was sagging down, the hair-tie just barely hanging on, and how the other was way to far up on the other side of her head to even be considered remotely even.

"Yeah, it's great." He muttered, spotting one of the small red converse sneakers peeking out from under a pile of coloring books. He snatched it up and handed it to his son, the boy struggling to slip it on as he continued to dangle from his father's hold. He spotted the other shoe on the bookshelf -how the hell had it gotten there?- at the same time as there was a knock on the door.

"Yeah, yeah, hold on." He muttered, wincing as he stepped on one of Asuma's mini building pieces, the astonishing pain making him hiss. "Hell. Hold on!" He shouted as the knocking persisted.

"Hell." Asuma agreed, looking down dejectedly at his dangling laces. Shikamaru spared the boy a look just before he opened the door. "Yeah, let's try to not say that." He suggested, shifting the boy to his other arm and opening the door to be greeted by two familiar faces.

"Gaara? Kankuro? What are you two doing here?" The eldest of the two pulled a face, though the absurd amount of purple makeup he wore made it look like he was constipated.

"What? We can't come visit family? And you are technically family, you know." Shikamaru looked the two over doubtfully. True, they did come to visit but it was always with some letter coming before them to let him know or it was them warning him that they wanted to see their nephew and niece so he had better figure out a way to get down to Suna. So what ever they had come for wouldn't be very good.

"Well, come on, are you going to let us in or not?" Obviously Kankuro wasn't in a very patient mood at the moment. With a heavily burdened sigh Shikamaru stepped back and opened the door wider and allowed the two men into the chaos of his life.

"Hell." Asuma said again and Shikamaru shushed him, setting him down so he could run after his uncles. "I told you not to say that." Though he truthfully couldn't have agreed more.

"Man, this place is a mess." Kankuro observed, taking in the scattered toys and general mess that came along with two young children. He turned and took in his brother-in-law's appearance, taking in the fact that his t-shirt had what seemed to be a fresh stain on it and that his hair hung free around his face, baggy jeans that he'd probably picked off of the floor and put on without checking how fresh they were hanging from his hips. "You're a mess too."

Shikamaru leaned against the opening to the living room, observing his children as they both vied for Gaara's attention. "Yeah, and I bet if you had a morning alone with these two you'd come out of it fresh as a daisy." God, he hated it when he felt like people were judging him on the way he was raising his children.

"Uncle Gaara! Uncle Gaara!" Asuma called, tugging on the Kazekage's clothes, wanting to take the man's attention from his sister desperately. "Yes?" He asked, looking down at the determined child.

"Tie my shoe!" He demanded, pointing to his loose laces. Gaara had to wonder at how no one would ever dare demand anything of him -he was the Kazekage after all- other than his three year old nephew. He crouched down and began to tug at the laces, the boy gripping the sleeve of his shirt to keep his balance. Kyoko narrowed her eyes and turned to her other uncle, wanting the attention back on her.

"Uncle Kankuro! Look! I did my hair myself! Doesn't it look pretty?" She asked, beaming at the man. He looked down at her and -without the delicacy most people would have used with a child- bluntly said. "Not really."

"What's wrong with it?" She asked, her voice becoming shrill as she tried to hold back her tears. Shikamaru, seeing how this might possibly scar his daughter, pushed his way past the puppet master and crouched in front of the wide eyed girl. "It just messed up a little bit when you jumped up earlier. Here, I'll fix it for you." He said, quickly and efficiently tugging her hair into two twin pigtails.

"So, what made the two of you come here all of the sudden?" He asked, his now sufficiently pleased daughter hurrying over to Gaara and Asuma to watch as her uncle made fun shapes with the sand he kept in the gourd on his back. Gaara's eyes met with his brother's over the heads of the children as they silently communicated.

"Why, it was to come and see my favorite niece and nephew, of course." Kyoko giggled at the man. "But uncle Kankuro, we're you're only niece and nephew."

"Exactly. But if Gaara ever has any kids you two will have to start to work for it." He joked, both of the kids giggling. He was pulling out the puppets he had made for them when Garra and Shikamaru's eyes met, Gaara motioning his head slightly for them to leave the room and talk. They went into the kitchen, neither of them sitting down. Whatever they were about to discuss didn't feel like the type of conversation where you wanted to sit down.

Gaara didn't bother to work up to the subject that had brought him to Konoha, didn't bother with any false words or round-about subjects. He simply met Shikamaru's eyes with his own and started. "Next week it will be exactly one year." He didn't have to explain because Shikamaru instantly knew. After all, he had been silently counting the days in his head.

One year since she had become lost, one year since they had come to his door and had told him that she wasn't coming home, wasn't coming back to him or their children. One year since he had been cursed to fall asleep in an empty bed, instinctively reaching out for the figure that should rightfully be beside him but wasn't.

"Have you thought about taking her off of the MIA nin list?" Gaara asked. Shikamaru knew what he was saying, knew what he was getting at, but he wanted the bastard to say it himself, wanted to hear those damn words pass from his lips. "And what would we put her on after that?"

"The memorial stone for ninjas who fell in action." Shikamaru felt as it an astonishingly hot poker had been thrust through his heart. It hurt like hell but he couldn't bleed, the heat from the metal rod burning his wounds shut, leaving him to feel all of that overwhelming pain and have nothing to show for it.

"Gaara-"

"Most ninjas are only kept on the MIA list for a few months and yet she has been on there for an entire year. Maybe you should consider giving up on her coming back."

Shikamaru clenched his hands into fists, trying to restrain his anger so he wouldn't alert his children to what they were talking about. They didn't need to know any of this, not when the shadows in their eyes were finally fading.

"Never." He said in a low, harsh voice, his hand coming up to grip the counter he was leaning against. His hands went white from how tightly he held on, his anger burning hotter and brighter the tighter he gripped. "I will never sign her off that list. I will never give up on the hope that she will come home, no matter how slim it is."

"What if she's dead?"

"Then I'll accept it as soon as I see her body lying in front of me, unmoving and cold. And it will be then and only then that I'll let them put her name on that goddamned stone." Gaara watched him unblinking for a long moment before nodding, looking relieved.

"Good."

"Good?" Shikamaru questioned, his grip slackening as he relaxed marginally.

"We don't want to give up either. After all, what kind of brothers would we be if we did something as worthless as that? But Shikamaru," His always grave stare became harder. "Are you really willing to keep hoping and waiting for her to come back? Can you?"

Shikamaru heard the sound of his children's laughter, their joy and cheerfulness easing the heaviness that lay thick in the air. But there was another laugh -one that was a coarser and more straightforward but that still managed to hold a distinct femininity- that was obviously missing from the house. Until he could hear that laugh again, until it filled the home they had started to create together, he knew he could never be completely whole.

"I'll never stop waiting for her." He murmured softly, going back into the other room to make sure his children wouldn't suspected anything.

* * *

It's probably a bit graver than you were hoping for, and I apologize if it doesn't meet your expectations.

My fried Missy reads these and the other day she came up to me and said, "You're so mean! Temari is like, dieing and the only thing that helps her stay sane for all these years is the thought of her happy family, and you have Shikamaru hating her and shacking up with some girl!"

A few points here:

No1) Shikamaru doesn't hate Temari (she was referencing _Monsters and Shadows_), he loves her so much that it hurts. He has never, _ever,_ given up the hope that she would come back some day, and it practically kills him.

No2) He's not "Shacking up" with Maria. They still have the separate homes, even after all their years together because Maria understands that she's just a replacement (and this hurts her more than anything), but she still has hope that one day Shikamaru will look at her without looking for Temari first.

I wrote this to show that Shikamaru never stops waiting for her to come back, no matter how much it hurts him to keep hoping.

Oh! And here's a quick _how do you do _to my newest sweet darlings NarutoIsMe and AelitaOfTheWolves. Hello! I'm pleased to welcome you to my little story! I hope you enjoy it!

I love you all and I'll be back soon so that I can see those precious little faces of yours.


	42. Up All Night, NaruHina

The daughter of the Hokage was looked upon as somewhat of a treasure to the hidden village of the leaf. They all wanted to see Konoha's newest darling, so much so that when the Hokage and his wife walked together on the streets the citizens crowded around, trying to get a peek at the baby's shiny blonde hair and unclouded white eyes, to see the famed smile that had managed to charm anyone who saw it, even the stiff and seemingly unfeeling ex-head of the Hyuuga who –rumor had it- had been seen cooing over his first grandchild.

Everyone who saw the cherub faced child instantly fell in love and cooed over just how sweet she was, how delightful she was and what a good girl she was.

Her parent's wished that those foolish people could see her now.

Hinata continued to walk the same path back and forth across the nursery that she had for the past twenty minutes, jiggling the baby in her arms to try and calm her howls, wearily wracking her brain for any clue as to what her daughter could want.

"We've fed her, changed her, rocked her and walked with her to Suna and back. Why won't she just go to sleep?" Hinata looked over at her husband, giving him a sharp look that she would never have given him years before due to her complete hero worship of him, the great Uzumaki Naruto. But marrying and then having a child with him had certainly given her a spine, his love building up her self-confidence so that she could stand up for herself, even to him. That, added with the late hour, the baby howling like a banshee in her arms and the lack of sleep due to said baby added up to one very irritable Uzumaki Hinata.

"Just go to sleep Naruto. I can deal with this just fine on my own."

"No, I'll stay up. It's not like I could ever fall asleep with her screaming like that anyway." This badly worded statement earned him another look from his wife as she shifted the baby to her shoulder, rubbing her back soothingly as she murmured to her.

Naruto watched from the rocking chair, his sluggish brain trying desperately to come up with some plan to get his daughter to sleep. He thought briefly about a sleeping jutsu but dismissed the idea since when he had suggested it the other night he had gotten a look from Hinata that very well could have killed him if it had been able to.

Hinata yawned widely, pausing for a minute to sway tiredly in place as she searched for her bearings, only to be jolted from her light daze by Kori's cries reaching a higher octave that threatened to shatter their ears. Seeing the sluggish way his wife moved and the weary draw of her face Naruto stood and walked over to her, holding his arms out for his daughter.

"Really Naruto, just go to bed. I don't want to be responsible for you falling asleep during some important dignitary meeting or something like that." Naruto merely continued to hold out his arms until Hinata slipped the struggling baby into them, shuffling over to the rocking chair to slump gratefully into it .

Naruto continued on the same path that Hinata had taken, talking to Kori in a low voice that would have made Hinata's insides melt had she not been so goddamn tired.

"Shush, Kori. Stop crying, Baby, or else me and your mom are going to cry right along with you. And you don't want to make her cry, do you? It'll just break your heart if you see her cry, because it sure breaks mine. So why don't you just quiet down now and get some sleep, because we could _all_ use some sleep right about now, right?" But she ignored his pleas and continued to wail, making Naruto –a grown man, a fearless ninja, the great and powerful Hokage- want to whimper. "What can I do to get you to stop crying?" Naruto asked desperately, practically weeping.

"Try singing." Hinata suggested, her words slurring as she prayed that the blurriness that surrounded her vision wouldn't be permanent.

"What?"

"Singing. Your voice is very soothing, maybe that will help."

"But not my _singing _voice! I don't sing!" He shouted, the baby's cries getting louder due to the shock over his sudden outburst. Naruto's face became panicked as he tried even harder to calm her down, his eyes desperately meeting Hinata's and asking –begging really- for the answers. "Why don't you sing?"

"Because I want to hear you sing." She said, yawning again. At first it had only been a suggestion that she figured they'd just pass over because it seemed kind of ridiculous. But now that she had said it, now that she was thinking about it, she really wanted to hear him sing.

"Hinata…" Naruto wined, but Hinata remained firm, though she hesitated at the next and final step she'd have to take to get what she wanted.

Hinata had very few cards she could put into play to get her way in their marriage, probably because Naruto spoiled her by giving her everything she asked for and more. She could never withhold sex from him –the begging face he put on always and inevitably melted all of her resolve- though the silent treatment worked if she had enough time to work with, but only if she used it sparingly. But now that she had had Kori, she was aware of another card -a powerful card- that had been placed into her hand.

"Naruto," She paused, wondering how to word it, wondering if this would even work. "I went through sixteen hours of labor. The least you could do is sing." There was a moment of silence that made Hinata question the decision and the effectiveness of the ploy but then Naruto's shoulders slumped.

"Fine." He grumbled. "But you have to go out in the hall."

"Why?"

"Because this is embarrassing." He grumbled, shoving her out of the nursery and shutting the door in her face. Hinata blinked at the wooden blockade before her before pressing her ear to it, straining to hear him.

_"Hush now, sweet baby, it's alright. _

_ You don't have to cry. _

_ The stars are out and the moon, it shines._

_ The onyx sky, surrounding the world in dreams,_

_ Softly dances to the song of your sleeping sighs._

_ Close your eyes, travel upon lands unheard,_

_ But promise you'll return home."_

Hinata blinked, her lips curving into a sleepy smile. She had no idea what lullaby that was, but his voice was raspy and deep, soothing her frayed nerves and prodding even her towards sleep. And apparently it had the same effect on their daughter because her cries had faded as he had sang until final and blessed silence had finally filled the house.

She slowly cracked the door open and peeked in, watching as Naruto eased the now peacefully sleeping child into her crib.

"Finally." He sighed, and Hinata nodded.

"Where did you learn that lullaby?" She asked, not really speaking the words as much as mouthing them, desperate not to wake the baby now that they had finally gotten her down for the night. He shrugged as they slipped out of the room, using all of their stealth abilities as ninjas to get out of there and hopefully into blessed sleep.

"I didn't know any so Kurama told me what to say. He's actually a pretty good singer." Hinata blinked and stopped just outside the door.

"Naruto, how does the nine tailed fox know lullabies?" He shrugged, both of them standing in the doorway for a moment to bask in the beauty of the silence. "I don't know, but he _is_ an ancient demon fox, maybe he picked it up somewhere. All I know is that he said it was really old."

Hinata smiled softly at the thought of the great demon fox singing her infant daughter to sleep and held out her hand to Naruto, who took it gratefully.

"Now," He whispered, pulling the door shut behind him, "We can finally get some sleep." The door closed with a distinctive click that made the two freeze, staring wide eyed at each other as the inevitable happened.

Upon hearing the click –which had been no louder than the sound of a gentle whisper- the young Uzumaki shot instantly awake, searching for the soothing company of her mother and father in the dark. And upon finding herself alone the small blonde had thrown her head back and began to once again scream so loudly that it seemed like even the ANBU guard stationed outside the house could hear it through the silence jutsu that surrounded the house.

Naruto clenched the doorknob in his hand, banging his head on the wall beside the door again and again, calling himself and the action of closing the door stupid with every thud of his forehead meeting the solid surface of the wall. Hinata whimpered in despair, leaning her forehead against her husband's strong back as she watched the sweet dream of actually getting some sleep fly away, fading to dust as it went.

"Sleeping jutsu." Naruto muttered desperately, listening as his daughter's cries gained in volume the longer they abstained from entering the room. Hinata actually considered it for a moment but then shook her head, though she wanted to cry from just how tired she was. Naruto nodded and sighed, trying to forcefully rub the tiredness from his face.

"Come on." He muttered, opening the door, wincing as his daughter's shrieking and unmuffled cries filled his ears. "Let's try this again." And they walked inside, leaving behind all hopes of being well rested when the sun came up as they entered.

* * *

Okay, I can't say to much this time. (In school and class is about to end)

My parents said that this was me when I was little and that the only thing that would shut me up was listening to the Eagles _Desparado_ on loop until the cassette tape wore out.

to xaburame15- Oh! my poor baby! I'm glad i could make your day better, even marginally.

I love you all!


	43. First Date, NaruHina

This one is for my newest little sweet darling Temudjen, who said:

**"I was hoping that we would get more story of them [Hinata & Naruto] dating and figuring things out. That would be a interesting read from you."**

Well, here's their first date! It kind of got away from me, but here you go! I'll try to more sometime.

* * *

War, as the young ninjas of the hidden villages learned after the end of the fourth shinobi war, was not something that simply ended when the fighting was called off. It had been two months since the end of the war and there were still people scurrying to righten all the wrongs caused by the war. Of course Naruto, as one of the newest "great ninjas of Konoha", was included in a lot of it, Tsunade already prepping him for the job she knew would one day be his. So this busy schedule, along with Hinata's helping with the rebuilding of the Hyuuga compound, meant that the two had yet to go on even one date.

They managed to find time to speak to each other though, walking around town with each other for a few minutes while they picked up supplies or ran errands. And though they continued to grow closer to each other slowly but steadily they were both a bit antsy for that promised first date, though neither pushed for the occasion, knowing how busy their schedules were.

One day Naruto was walking Hinata back towards the newly rebuilt Hyuuga compound when he suddenly stopped, Hinata walking forward a few more steps forward before noticing his absence. "N-Naruto-kun?" She puzzled, looking back at the boy. He grinned at her and scratched the back of his head, seeming to be somewhat nervous about something.

"Ah, hey, Hinata, I know we've both been really busy recently and we probably will be for a bit longer but Tsunade baa-chan is letting me have a couple of hours Saturday free and I was wondering if you want to go on a date then?" Hinata blinked at Naruto as she tried to remember how to breathe.

True she had wanted him to ask her on a date but she hadn't actually expected him to do it. Not now, when she didn't have any preparation and had lost all feeling in her legs.

But this, this was her dream. This was everything she had been waiting for, everything she had ever wished for, standing right in front of her with the slightest blush on his cheeks as he looked over at the wood of the fence beside them as if it were the most interesting thing that he had ever seen.

She knew that it wasn't a dream because she could feel the blush marking her entire face a burning red and could feel her head start to spin lightly, the blood roaring in her ears and the clenching in her stomach warning her that she was about to be surrounded by a familiar darkness. But she forcefully held on to consciousness, shoving that lightness aside and locking her knees because she was going to answer him. She was going to look at him and give him the only answer she ever would and damn it, she was going to stay lucid while doing it.

She. Would. Not. Faint.

"I... I'd l-love to go o-on a d-d-date w-with you N-Naruto-kun." She said, her eyes skittering away from him when his head whipped back over to her, and she found herself looking down at her nervously twiddling fingers.

"That's great!" Naruto enthused, grinning widely at her as she peeked at him through her bangs, smiling timidly at him. He walked her the rest of the way to the compound in silence, though it was not one filled with awkwardness or uneasiness. It was a good silence, one where their eyes kept meeting as if pulled by a magnetic force, the looks always paired with smiles, his wide and hers sweet.

When they got to the gate Naruto grinned again, turning to hurry his way back so that he wouldn't be late for whatever job Tsunade had assigned for him that day. "See you Saturday!" He called as he ran backwards, waving as he went. Hinata knew he wouldn't turn and run correctly until she was safely inside so she smiled shyly at him again, waved, and slipped through the gate.

Hinata floated through the compound, carried on a blissful cloud of euphoria. She managed to find her way to her room and close the door behind her with out bumping into anyone who would question her strange attitude, dreamily smiling at everything in her room. She was going on a date with Uzumaki Naruto. _She _was going on a date with _Uzumaki Naruto._ She covered her furiously red face with her hands and let out a girlish squeal of joy, sliding down the wall until she was sitting on the floor, her knees having finally given out on her.

Oh God, what was she going to wear?

* * *

Hinata took a breath and smoothed down a wrinkle in her clothes, hoping that the long summer skirt wasn't too much. When she had told Sakura and Ino -both of whom insisted to be informed as much as possible about her relationship- they had warned her that Naruto would probably be taking her to the big ramen event that Ichiraku was holding that day (who ever ate ten bowls of the owner's choice of ramen ate free). And she had truthfully told them that she didn't care, in fact she expected it. It didn't matter if Naruto took her out for ramen, the only thing that mattered was that they were together and that they had a good time.

She was waiting for him outside of the Hokage tower since they had agreed to meet there, fiddling with the strap of her purse that went diagonally across her chest. He was only a few minutes late, but even that worried her. What if he had forgotten? What if he had changed his mind about going with her?

What if her had changed his mind about her?

_No!_ She told her self, shaking her head as if to shake the very thought away. She wouldn't think like that, wouldn't allow those doubts to rise and reduce her into a tearful mess that would just hurry back home to hide. She was going to keep standing there because Naruto _would _come, and she would wait for him. She'd been waiting for years for him to finally look at her, and now that he had she knew that a few more minutes wouldn't hurt anything.

"Hinata!" Called a familiar and beloved voice, and Hinata looked up, shielding her eyes with her hand as she stared up at Naruto's grinning face that was sticking out of one of the windows a few stories up. She raised her hand in a little wave and watched as he turned his head back to say something to someone behind him before pushing himself out of the window to drop down to the ground below. Hinata's breath caught as the blonde fell through the air, landing in front of her the way all ninja were taught to do, balancing his weight perfectly.

"Naruto! This is the fifth floor! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Hinata looked back up and into the face of the furious Hokage as she shouted down at the exasperating boy who merely looked back up and waved. "See ya Baa-chan!" He called, quickly grabbing Hinata's hand and hurrying away before the furious woman could come after him.

Hinata looked down to where their hands were joined and blushed at the sight of her hand being wrapped up in his larger one, finding herself fascinated by the way his darker skin contrasted her pale skin. His hand was calloused but hers was too, and she found that she liked the feel of them against each-other. They were proof of their efforts to become a great ninja, proof of how hard they had tried and how far they had come from what they had used to be. Hinata felt her blush dim, now only a slight tinge of pink staining her cheeks and she smiled softly at the thought that flitted through her mind.

His hand was perfect for hers.

Naruto looked back and saw that Hinata was looking down at their joined hands. It suddenly registered with the boy that he was holding onto her hand and he stopped, dropping it immediately as if her very touch scalded him. "Ah, sorry." He mumbled, scratching the back of his head as he silently berated himself. Hadn't Tsunade warned him to take it slow with a girl like Hinata? What if she wanted to go back now?

Hinata bit her lip for as they stood there in silence for a moment, her hand twitching as she wished for it to be back in the warmth of his. Hinata was about to let it go and continue on but then she just... didn't. She had sacrificed herself for this man, she had faced death for him and had confessed her love for him when she was certain of nothing else. And yet she couldn't even speak up when she wanted to hold his hand.

"Ano, N-Naruto-kun?"

"Hmm?"

"C-could we maybe keep h-holding h-hands?" He blinked at her and she blushed even brighter. "O-only i-if you want t-to th-that i-is." Naruto blinked at her again before holding his hand to her, letting her slip hers quietly into it.

* * *

"Oh my God, that is just too cute!"

"Geeze, Ino-pig, be quiet! We're supposed to be following them _quietly_. What if they figure us out?"

"Of course they're going to figure us out with all that yelling you're doing, billboard-brow!"

"Guys, what are you even doing and why am I a part of it?" Ino, momentarily deciding to forgo the usual argument with Sakura, turned to roll her eyes at Shikamaru.

"We're following Naruto and Hinata around to see how their fist date goes."

"But that doesn't explain why we're all here."

"Well, Sakura and I are here to observe, like I said, and Kiba and Shino are here to make sure that he doesn't get to frisky since Hinata is pretty much like a sister to them. Plus I think they both kind of want a chance at Naruto regardless. Neji is here to protect her precious Hyuuga honor -oh, don't give me that face, I'm just being sarcastic- and Tenten followed just to see what happens. Sai is here for some relationship observation crap and I dragged you along since you can hold Naruto still with your shadow jutsu so we can beat the crap out of him if he tries to do anything to Hinata."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and grumbled about how troublesome everything was, but before he could figure out a way to escape safely Sakura hissed, "They're leaving!" And they were on the move again, Ino forcefully dragging him along.

They went on for a bit, utilizing their ninja skills so that the two they were following wouldn't sense them, but then Tenten spoke up. "Hey, isn't that ramen place in the other direction? I thought that that was where we were going."

The group blinked and Sakura narrowed her eyes at the back of her friend. "If he does something perverted to her I swear I'll beat him so good that even the nine tails won't help him."

Apparently Hinata was having the same questions as the group that was secretly following them because she tilted her head to look at Naruto. "Ano, N-Naruto-kun, i-isn't Ichiraku's over that w-way?"

"Yeah, it is. Why?"

"I thought we were going th-there." Naruto grinned and shook his head.

"Nah, we can go some other time, but I figured we do something else this time." Hinata flushed as he alluded to more dates, the thought pleasing her so much that she swore her toes tingled.

"W-What?" He turned his head to grin at her.

"Secret." He told her, continuing to tug her through the streets of Konoha

The ten teenagers made their way through Konoha and to the training grounds, the two leading girls in the back group groaning in defeat. "Oh my God, training? Seriously? This is his idea of a first date?" Sakura angrily fumed, Ino nodding beside her.

"I don't think that it's so bad. This way you can see how strong the other person is and can test their limits." Tenten said, causing the two girls in front of her to turn and glare.

"No." They both said, turning to continue to follow Naruto, hoping that he wouldn't be able to sense the killing aura they were emitting until it was too late.

"N-Naruto-kun? Are w-we training?" She had _known _that she was going to be over dressed. He grinned and shook his head at her, happy that she hadn't figured it out yet. "Nah, but we can some other day if you want. I think that would be pretty fun." Hinata's eyes widened and her face flushed at the thought of training with him, the suggestion so wonderful and unexpected. "I-I'd love to." She said, earning another grin.

They walked into the trees, passing through them for a few minutes before coming to a small clearing. Naruto drew them both to a stop and stared at Hinata's face, drinking in the shock that was written clearly all over her face.

"I figured that Ichiraku's -even if it is the greatest place ever- wasn't the best place for this kind of thing. So I asked Shizune what she thought I should do and she said that this would be a good idea." He said, not really all that sure that Hinata could hear him from the daze she seemed to be in.

A picnic. He had made her a picnic.

Everything was laid out on a white bed sheet -she blushed furiously at the thought that it was his- from a wicker basket that was probably borrowed from Shizune since the whole thing had been her idea, to a tray that practically overflowed with the amount of sandwiches on it. Two empty plates sat on the blanket for them, and it was all absolutely perfect.

"I don't know how to make anything so I stuck with sandwiches, and I figured it was alright since they seemed like a picnic food, and I didn't know your favorite drink so I just got some grape soda." He said, reaching into the basket to pull out a can. Hinata still hadn't said a word so he looked over at her, his forehead knitting up in concern. "Hey, are you okay? Did I do anything wrong?"

She shook her head, and walked over to the blanket to sit down. "Yes, I-I'm fine. And this... t-this is wonderful Naruto-kun." She said, smiling sweetly at him. "Can w-we eat?" He nodded quickly, sitting down with the grace of a herding buffalo. "Yeah! And tell me if there's anything you don't like, because I made them with a little bit of everything." She nodded and smiled at him again.

This was the perfect date.

* * *

"Hey, Pig."

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever had a guy make you a picnic?"

"Nope. And don't call me pig." They all watched on, Ino sighing at the picture. "They're just so sweet." She cooed, imagining that someday she'd get her own picnic, though it would have to be with something more refined than sandwiches and grape soda and with an incredibly sexy and hopefully slightly older and skilled man.

Shikamaru sighed, knowing now that there was absolutely no reason that he had to be there.

"Can I go now?"

"No." Ino said, waving for the boy to sit down. "Hush. Take notes if you have to, since you'll probably never come up with an idea as sweet as this."

"Naruto didn't either." He pointed out, "Shizune did."

"Well, at least he had the mind to know not to take her out to ramen and to ask for advice."

"Why didn't he ask me?" Sakura asked, the idea that he should have suddenly hitting her. After all, she was a girl, she had ideas about these things that were just as good as a picnic. "I could have helped him out and given him a few good ideas. I am his friend after all" Ino snorted.

"Yeah, this from the girl who hasn't even gone on a date yet. Who would ever ask _you _for advice?"

"Plenty of people, you stupid Ino-pig." The two started to quietly bicker, but they stopped when Naruto roared with laughter. Everyone turned to find Hinata covering her mouth, embarrassed, Naruto tearing up as he laughed.

"What...?" Sakura puzzled.

"Hinata took a drink of the soda and when she pulled the cup back she had some on her upper lip. Dickless started laughing at this and then she burped, which made him laugh even more. Are burps really that funny?" Sai asked, and Sakura rolled her eyes at both clueless boys.

"God, that idiot! Now she's going to be so embarrassed and the whole date is going to be just absolutely ruined." But instead of things going the way Sakura predicted them to Naruto managed to choke something out that made Hinata's blush grow and made her let out a small giggle.

"_Now _what did he say?" Sakura wished that they could be closer so that they could hear them better, but she knew that they'd be found out pretty quickly if they got any closer what with how loud they were being.

"He said that she was cute." Shino supplied, apparently having learned this from the bug that was on his finger, and the group decided to ignore the fact that the boy was now conversing with his bugs. Surprised that the blonde boy had said this, and even more surprised that Hinata hadn't fainted from having heard it, Sakura's lips twitched as she took in the scene from the tree she was hiding behind, watching as Naruto said something that made his date turn a comically impossible shade of red.

"That idiot." She said fondly, smiling at just how adorable the pair was.

* * *

Yeah, like I said, it got away from me. I was just minding my own business, typing like I always do, and then Kathy butted in and added the stalkers.

Originally, I was actually writing a whole fanfic about Naruto and Hinata's relationship (that is where the first chapter of this came from), but I got writers block about fifteen pages through. I ended up deleting everything but _Star Filled Eyes_ and started typing out the other little one-shot chapters, which has now got me here with 42 little stories, imaginary kids I love, readers I adore and over 50 reviews.

Now, I have some news that may or may not cause happiness to fill your dear little hearts: I will be taking a few days before my next upload. Why, you ask?

Because I'm going to be locking my self in complete solitude with a box of strawberry Toaster Strudels and I'm going to write out the Temari bit.

This will probably end up as the longest chapter I've done, so I'll be putting it up in two parts. I'm going to try my hardest not to disappoint the expectations of everyone who has been waiting for me to resolve this since the second chapter, so please be patient with me!

Toodles my darlings, I'll be back soon!


	44. Coming Back to You, ShikaTema - Part 1

Okay, here's part one of Temari's ending. I've had this done for a few days but I wanted to get a bit more up so that I'm not just leaving you hanging.

Oh, and if you are a sensitive and imaginative soul, beware. Some of the torture and surgical elements may offend you.

* * *

Temari knew better than to wake up, she really did. With sleep the only solace she could have she should have fought to stay, fought tooth and nail to remain wrapped up in dreams of the warmth that she had left behind. Dreams of laughter and smiles, of a place where the crooked fingers of the darkness could never reach. And yet she always went so easily.

The pain was what she felt first, what she always felt when the dreams began to inevitably fade and reality began to coldly set in. There was something clouding her senses, making everything feel momentarily and blessedly dull, but even that faded to force her to feel the full brutal extent of the pain, like jagged nails being hammered into each of her nerve endings. She supposed that after all the years she had spent in a constant state of pain she should have been immune to it by now. But she wasn't.

Oh God, she wasn't.

She tested her surroundings first, pressing her finger tips against the frigid metal beneath her, flexing her wrists and ankles to test the restraints, breathing in the flat taste of the filtered air they fed her, feeling the press of the mask against the sensitive skin of her face. The air was cold, making goosebumps rise on her naked skin and forcing her toes to curl as if even that slight defense would help.

She could hear the beeping of machines -God, how she dreaded hearing those sounds- and the sound of metal clicking coldly against metal.

"Doctor," A deceivingly gentle voiced nurse said, "It seems that she's coming out of the anesthesia."

"Hn." He grunted, "Its fine. We have a bit more time before she regains full consciousness and even after it'll take a few minutes for her to regain any of her faculties. It'll be interesting to see how her body reacts as she becomes more and more lucid."

"Yes, of course Doctor." Came the dutiful reply.

Temari knew better than to open her eyes. She knew better than to release those last few ties to that blessed other world, and yet she still found her heavy lids slowly lifting to allow the blinding white light in. God, how she hated when the white overtook the black, when they forced the shadows she wrapped around herself for comfort away so that they could abuse her body like the animal they had forced her to become.

Slowly it all became sharper, everything more defined as her blurry eyes focused past the harsh light that hung above her. She flicked her eyes to the presences standing over her and saw the "Doctor" dressed in an operating smock, hair hidden beneath cloth and a mask over his mouth. One of his ever dutiful and heartless nurses stood at his side, handing him the instruments as he asked for them, their coldly calculating eyes focused intently on her torso.

Temari knew better than to look, to put the effort into raising her head and gazing into what the heartless devils had done to her. She knew that they were doing something sick and twisted to her body -weren't they always?- but she didn't know what. And for some reason she felt the need to look, felt the need to know even though she knew that it would likely destroy her.

And, oh God, it nearly did.

Her entire stomach was split open, her skin pulled back so that they could reach in with their dirty and depraved hands and destroy her from the inside out. She could see everything: twitching muscles, pumping organs, tissue and blood. So much blood. Her breath hitched and the nurse looked towards her, eyes widening in alarm as she finally noticed that their test subject had awakened.

"Doctor!" She cried, reaching down to grab hold of the woman on the table. At the cold and unfeeling touch of the surgical gloves meeting her skin Temari was roughly jerked from the frozen state she had been forced into by the sight of her body being dissected like it was.

And she screamed.

And she _fought._

"Hold her down! Keep her still! Guards!" Temari thrashed against her restraints -both human and metal- pitting all of her pathetic strength against them, twisting as she tried to get away, trying to unsee all that she had seen, trying to unfeel all that she had felt. Trying so desperately to go back to the darkness that hid her and her body away from these vile monsters.

Hands pinned her down, trying to push another needle through her skin, trying to push more of that burning poison into her that allowed them to do as they wished to her body. In one last desperate attempt to seek freedom she twisted and the operating doctor cursed as she felt something inside of her tear.

"Sedate her. _Now!"_ He screamed, one of the few times the inhumanly cold man had ever lost his cool. The needle slid through the fragile barrier of her skin, the heavy veil of darkness falling on her quickly as she heard the machines around her begin to scream indignantly, rapidly beeping and screeching at the people who stood in the room.

Temari knew better than to go back into the darkness. There was no pain there, no fear and no demons who looked upon her with eyes that looked amazingly like those of human's. The darkness was so peaceful. So calm. And that made everything so terrifyingly worse when she was forced back into consciousness. Yet she always went, always fell into that void and hoped that she could hide from them there, even knowing that they actually owned the darkness. Owned her.

And just before it swallowed her whole she called out, crying out with all of her pain and desperation as if someone could hear her.

As if she had hope.

* * *

Shikamaru jerked up in bed, panting hard as his body shook from the shock of the dream. Sweat had soaked his entire body, his hair sticking together in strands against his face and neck, heavy with it. He clenched the sheets in his hands as he tried to calm his rapidly beating heart, the sound of his ragged breathing filling the room. With a rough growl he rolled out of bed, stumbling into the bathroom to brace his hands on the sink as he looked into his refection in the mirror.

The small light that he had flipped on at his entrance into the tiled room illuminated the features of his face that had been drawn harsh because of the dream. And God, what a dream it had been.

It had begun how all of his dearest and most loathed dreams began: with Temari. It had been an odd dream, not like the others he had always had of her. His dreams of his wife had always been of the happy days they had had together, the memories he had of her.

Temari laying with the kids as she read them a bedtime story, her low voice shifting along with the characters as she made funny faces, trying to get the kids to laugh instead of sleep. Temari trying to cook breakfast for him that first time she had spent the night at his apartment all those years ago, cutting her hands miserably and burning herself all just to make him an omelet. The first time they had grudgingly told each other _"I love you"_.

But this had been different. This had been strange.

This dream had been of him in a room that had been pure white, the glaring light that hung in the middle of the room sucking the color and soul out of everything it could touch. There had been nothing in the room but that light and a single metal chair that sat empty in the middle of the room, directly below the light.

And then Temari had been there.

He hadn't been able to reach out to her, invisible chains holding him in place as he silently called out to her, begging for her to come back. But she couldn't seem to hear or see him as she just continued to sit in the chair, surrounded by a world of overwhelming white. She slowly, ever so slowly, turned her head to him, the wide green eyes he had missed so desperately staring into him as they pierced his heart with sorrow.

Blood began to bloom at her stomach, staining the white dress she wore as it bloomed across the cloth like a flower. It began to fall from the corner of her eyes like tears, red trails angrily marring her skin. He had reached out for her, wanting to touch her, to soothe her, to promise her that he'd always be there for her, but she had just continued to stare at him.

Just then a scream had torn through the air, shredding the world around them apart as the bloody tears had continued to quickly fall down her face.

And he had woken up, that chilling scream still echoing in his ears.

He shook his head against the images that filled his mind, all of them supplied by that nightmare, and viciously turned the cold tap on the sink on, bending down and splashing his face to try and wake up and leave all of those images behind.

He leaned back over the sink, icy water dripping down from his face as he reminded himself again and again that it had all been a dream. That none of it was true. That it hadn't meant anything and he shouldn't read anything in it. That everything would be alright.

Because it had all been a dream.

* * *

Temari floated in and out of consciousness for two days, curled up on the cold stone floor of her cell as she fought between lucidity and the darkness. She didn't know which to stay with and which to fight against but she knew that either way all that was left for her was more pain.

At the end of the second day Temari found herself awake as she stared into the depthless blackness that surrounded her, the pain from her wounds sending agonizing electric signals through her body. She whimpered as she forced herself not to move, the stitches pulling at her skin as she twisted and sending heated and screaming signals to her brain that warned her to stop immediately.

"You back Girly?" Temari blinked at the familiar voice, the high pitch soothing her nerves and easing the fear that always made her so weak when she worried about being alone in the hell she was in.

"Yeah Screech." She managed to choke out, "I'm back."

"They do a real number on you this time, huh? I can hear it in your voice."

Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes and Temari let them fall, the small drops slipping down and into her ears, such a slight discomfort easy to ignore. Lifting one sluggish hand she lightly brushed the tip of a finger against the coarse stitching on her abdomen, her breath catching as she traced it all the way across, from hip to hip.

"Yeah. It was a bad one." What had they taken? Had they put anything in her?

"Will you be all right?" The high pitched voice asked and Temari cleared her throat, fisting her hands to her side. _No. No. No._

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Scratches, that's all."

_God, oh God, it hurts._

_Please. Please. Save me. Hear me. Find me._

"That's good." Came the obviously false tone, but they both knew to ignore it. If you ignored it, there was a chance it would heal and if not it would kill you, and the two prisoners truthfully couldn't tell which was the better of the two options.

"Yeah."

_Someone, please._

_Asuma, Kyoko, Shikamaru,_

The tears continued to pour down her face and into her ears, her broken nails digging at the stones beneath her, fingertips beginning to bleed as she tore her skin against the floor. Her breath catching, she tried to think past the pain and panic that would have blinded her had she had something to see.

_Please._

_I'm almost gone._

* * *

The fifth Mizukage of the hidden village of the mist smiled kindly at the group of ninjas in front of her as her assistant handed them their mission scroll. "I hope you all understand the severity of this mission. Numerous children have been thought to have been taken by this organization to be tested on from all of the countries, and so far no one has been able to successfully infiltrate one of the facilities without the information leaking and them moving before we can get there. And so to stop that from happening I have kept this mission strictly between everyone in this room. Not even the council will know until you are half way there. And because of this, if the information gets leaked I will be able to find out who did it," She said, continuing to smile at them, "And kill them."

The entire group was silent as they swallowed past the lumps in their throats, staring at the terrifyingly sweet smile of their leader with more than a little bit of fear.

"You will leave immediately and will contact no one." She said, nodding for them to leave after she had felt they had been sufficiently warned. The group hurried out, leaping over the roofs of the buildings to quickly get to the gates and leave the city to do as their Mizukage bid.

* * *

Kento was a simple man.

He had no wife or family, and no need of such foolish things, far more happy to give a few dollars for pleasure instead of the rest of his happiness for a "home". He went a bit too heavy with the sake when the bottle was at hand and ate a bit more than his doctor preferred. He liked the simple pleasures in life, and he especially liked them when they were given to him freely.

Kento was a simple man, which was why his job worked out for him so well.

He watched over the security for a "rehabilitation center", or at least that's what they called it when the whores asked them questions on the nights they traveled into town. And though he was simple, he wasn't stupid. Of course he saw the things they did, the people –or what used to be people- they kept in the high security areas. He knew the place wasn't legit.

But the money was.

The place also gave him benefits: they supplied him with food and booze after his shift every day, they sent a good and trained "helper" his way when they felt he might be getting a little stressed during work and they looked over the mistakes he made the few times he made them on the job. It was good work and good work was hard to find, so it was almost absurd how easy it was to look the other way when they wheeled those people out after doing God knows what to them, to close his ears against the screams that echoed through the halls every night.

His job was also absurdly easy. All he had to do was sit in a little room with monitors that kept track of every inch of the security system that surrounded the place and read a skin magazine or two, sipping at his coffee that his wished held a nip of alcohol in it. He had never had problems before and the monitors had always remained silent. Always but for the one day he made a mistake.

He had slipped into a nap –something he actually rarely did during work- and he awoke slowly, a strange beeping causing him to stir. It wasn't the blaring of his clock alarm so he didn't bother waking quickly, but it was an incessant sound that annoyed him to no end. He sat up, rubbing his face roughly as he looked around trying to find the source and saw that one of the screens was glowing a bright and bloody red, the beeping of the security alarm having woken him.

It should have been louder, it really should have, but his heavy jacket had been tossed carelessly atop the speaker, muffling the sound that had been going for god knows how long. Kento jumped from his seat, hurrying over to the phone and picking it up, desperate to do anything to salvage his job.

"Doctor! Doctor! Intru-" But all that answered him was the dull monotone drone that told him no one would pick up because the line had been cut. With a shaky hand Kento dropped the phone, racing out of his comfortable little room, knowing that he would never be able to salvage his job.

But perhaps he could save his life.

He ran as fast as he could to the entrance. He would say he wanted a smoke and that one of the nurses had told him to take it outside. The front guards wouldn't question it if he brought the psychos in, they'd let him out and then he'd be gone. He'd leave and never look back, find himself some little armpit of a town and hole up there. He had enough money to live happily on, enough money so that when he died it would be with booze in his belly and a paid whore in his arms.

He turned the corner and ran into the devil himself.

"Mr. Kento," Came the paper thin voice that sent chills down his spine each time he heard it, "May I ask why you are causing such a ruckus in my facility?"

Kento opened his mouth to say something, to excuse himself and run away as fast as his portly legs could carry him but the alarms started blaring, meaning that the intruders were now close enough to the facility to trip the final alarm only meant for emergencies and cause a panic.

"Ah, intruders!" He squeaked, trying not to meet the man's cold eyes directly. "There are intruders!"

"Yes. I can see that. Why weren't we given any other warning than this annoyingly obnoxious alarm?"

Sweat began to roll uncomfortably down the guard's spine and yet those eyes that pierced him so unmercifully made him want to shiver from the ice that the spread over his soul. He just couldn't understand it; how could he be sweating when he was so unbearably cold? "Th-They cut the phone lines, Sir." The elderly man sighed and shook his head, motioning with his hand.

"Really now, they wouldn't have gotten close enough to do anything if you had been doing your job correctly." There was a sudden breeze and Kento suddenly found it impossible to breathe. His mouth gaped open and closed, desperately trying to get the needed oxygen to his brain. But he couldn't. He just couldn't.

He fell down to the ground, eyes wide as they stared up at the pale face of the devil himself, the final thing he carried over with him to the other side the sight of those cold and unfeeling eyes staring down at him as if he were nothing more than a speck of dust.

Looking down at the dead body of the idiotic security guard, the Doctor reminded the lifeless corpse of one thing, "It is not Sir, Mr. Kento. It is Doctor." Truly, that bothered him just as much as the buffoonery which led to this situation.

"Nurse Kay, that was a very precise incision. You should be proud." He said, speaking to one of his ever dutiful followers, referring to the cut across the security guard's jugular. The tiny woman bowed, honored at the doctor's praise, though her viciously cold eyes didn't show it. "Thank you doctor. Shall we start the transfer of the patients?"

"No."

"Then," She hesitated, not used to questioning her leader, but also not used to this new plan of action. "Will we leave them here for the trespassers?"

The doctor smiled, though it was questionable that such a forced curl of frozen lips could ever be called a smile. "What kind of man would that make me to give up all of my priceless research so easily? No, we will simply have to lay all of the patients to rest since they will be nothing but dead weight as we leave. Though it is a pity since I have not done all of the research that I wished to."

The nurse's brow furrowed as she tried to figure out how it would be more time saving to kill each of the patients individually. "Doctor, how do you propose we do such a thing? There are well over a hundred patients here." The man sighed, tiring of the woman's incessant questioning.

"In the control room there is a switch that will release a toxic gas into the vents that lead through the cells. This chemical will boil their blood and turn their internal organs to –for lack of a more refined term- mush. We flip this switch and we will have ample time to escape while they waste their time searching through the cells, perhaps killing themselves in the process as they breathe in the toxins."

The nurse nodded, berating herself for ever doubting him. "Yes, of course Doctor."

All of the nurses and lower level doctors hurried about the facility, grabbing data and test results, burning that which they did not need to take but did not want the invading enemy to have. Nurse Kay hurried past them, holding her dear leader's orders close to her heart.

_Go into the control room and go to the panel beneath the screen that shows the map of the facility. Flip the three black switches that lay at the bottom on the switch board and then turn the knob above them all the way to the right until you hear a click. The screen will load up the ventilation system, the green vents showing which ones are in proper working order. Wait until all of the ventilation shafts have turned green and then come to the hidden escape and leave._

Nurse Kay, dutiful until the very end, did as her master bid, watching the screen with a desperate intensity as she fought her automatic urge to run for the exit. The doctor had asked her to continue to stand there and so that was exactly what she would do, even if the blaring alarms urged her to reconsider.

After all, she could ignore alarms. What she could not ignore, however, was the sudden explosion that shook the facility as the enemy came in. Breath hitching she quickly turned and ran, leaving the room just before a single vent glowed red on the screen.

* * *

"Oh, this is _sooo_ gross!" Declared the mist nin, looking down at the body she had "borrowed". Her clan's powers allowed them to take over the body of another person after knocking the person out with a specially made powder. It was a useful skill on infiltration missions since the user was open to any amount of memories from the body they took over. And though the skills were similar the clan was always protesting that they were in no way similar to the Yamanaka clan, those stupid leaf posers.

"What is it now Mimi?"

"This… this _outfit_, if you could call it that, mind you. It's… horrific. It's atrocious. It's-"

"It's a nurse's uniform, Mimi."

The woman looked at her partner drolly, a look that she managed to carry off regardless of what body she was in. "Really Senji, stop kidding. I've seen nurse uniforms and _this _is not one of them. It completely defeats the purpose of a nurse uniform! It's like wearing a nun's habit." The woman shuddered, the effect far more comical since she was in the body of a stern faced, librarian styled woman. Great merciful heavens, the chick even wore panty hose.

Who in their right mind under the age of forty still wore panty hose?

"Mimi," Sighed the small, pale haired man, "It's not that kind of nurse uniform. This is the kind they wear in actual hospitals." The woman's face contorted with shock and disgust.

"Seriously?" She asked, waiting for him to nod. "Well, I sure am happy that you're the one that heals my wounds whenever I get the crap beat out of me. I never want to see another one of these things ever again after I'm out of this body." The man sighed and wondered how on earth he had gotten stuck taking care of a fully grown woman like she was a child.

"Hey Butch, do you have my body?" She asked the third person of their little team. The man nodded silently and stood from his crouch, having to slouch down to be able to fit his whole height of seven feet in the narrow hall. A tiny and curvaceous blue haired unconscious girl was slung over the giant's shoulder, the large man handling the limp body with so much care that you'd think it were made of spun glass.

"Well, I'll be going then. See you guys later!" She called, hurrying through the hidden exit. The plan was for Mimi to infiltrate their ranks and stay with them until they could get a large team together to go in and capture them, following Mimi's chakra signature to find them when the time came.

The two men made their way through the hall to where the others in their mission team stood, talking to each other in hushed tones that seemed to suit the lowly lit stone halls.

"What is it?" Senji asked, Butch lurking protectively behind him just as he always did, looking like a vicious giant with the body of Mimi slung over his shoulder and the shadows of the hall hiding his face.

"We opened one of the doors to the cells and found poison. A lot of poison. If we search any farther we'll need to put on gas masks." A ninja who seemed to glow with just how pale he was -white hair, white skin, white clothes, and pale, icy blue eyes- said.

"And I say that we don't need to look! They'll just be as dead as the ones in the first room." This one was a thin boy with an attitude that far outreached his size, though he wasn't as short as Senji's five foot five.

The group continued to bicker back and forth before Senji clapped his hands together calmly, not allowing anyone to affect his endless patience. "As this mission's leader I will decide what we will do." The group stayed silent as they waited, eying the short man with an admiration and respect not many could have ever hoped achieve from such a rough group.

"We will search the rest of the rooms just in case. Butch, you stay here with Mimi's body and watch to make sure noting surprises us. Jun, get us those masks."

The white man nodded and they all quickly did as he bid, each of them trying to steel themselves against what they were undoubtedly about to find.

But it was useless.

Each cell they opened gave way to more and more viciously vile experiments. There was a room that held only children that they -for some ungodly and unknown reason- had sewn together, the little pairs holding each other for comfort in their last breathing moments, their skin marred by ugly black stitches and pale slashing scars. A room with cribs and incubators -even these still innocent lives were unable to remain untouched- held more horrors. Toddlers with golden ringlet curls and dimple dotted cheeks were connected to vicious looking machines, read outs and charts showing the chemicals had injected into them. Just to see if their tiny bodies could take it.

In one of the padded cribs lay what had to have been the prettiest child that the group had ever seen -fluffy black curls, eyelashes going on for miles, cheeks that still looked rosy even with out the flow of blood, and sweet little cupid's bow lips. She could have been the darling of her father's eye, the little girl vendors would give free things to just to get a smile. But instead she lay dead, never having seen the beautiful world that could have been hers -or anything, for that matter, since the depraved bastards had sewed her eyes and mouth shut.

They went through each and every cell, looking at every individual twisted and soul shattering sight until tears streamed down their faces. They never stopped -they knew that if they did they would never be able to finish, never be able to continue on if they gave into the need to stop even momentarily. At one point the other girl in their group -Yuu- braced her hands against the wall, throwing up as she closed her eyes and tried to wipe away the horrific images from her memory.

But her mind wouldn't let her. She would never be free of the horrendous images that would haunt her memories until the day she finally succumbed to death and it was the same for all of them. With every door they opened another piece of their hearts shattered away, with every unforgettable face they saw another tear fell, with every step they took to the end of the hall they aged another year. But they knew that they'd never stop, not until they had seen every last one of the victims. Not until they memorized each face so that they would know who's family they would be begging for forgiveness from when they tried to explain why they hadn't been faster.

Not when opening those thick metal doors to give their souls the freedom their bodies had been forced away from was the only thing they could do for them.

* * *

Shivering, Temari tried to curl into a tighter ball, closing her eyes against the cruelty of the death that she knew was coming. She could feel it in her bones, straight down into her soul. She knew that the end was coming and she couldn't decide if she wanted to greet it like a beloved friend or a detested enemy.

"Hey, Girly."

"Hm?"

"They've stopped screaming."

Temari bit her lip, closing her eyes as her cell mate threw the truth right in her face. God, oh God, the screams that had always flowed so easily on the air around them in their cell, the screams of madness and pain and terror, they were all gone. Disappeared. Snuffed out with a cruelty and a finality that twisted Temari's gut.

So this was how she was going to die. Would she ever see her family? Would she ever, one day, feel their thoughts turn towards her and how they had loved her once upon a time? Would she ever be able to rest easy without asking them the one desperate question that had played on a loop through her mind for all the years of imprisonment?

_Shikamaru._

_Asuma._

_Kyoko._

_Will you forgive me?_

"You know," Screech started, his voice hitching suspiciously, "I always knew that I'd die in here in this cell, cold and chained to a wall like an animal. But I have to say, the fact that I'm not alone is making this pill a little easier to swallow. So, thank you."

"Dammit Screech, you bastard, you're going to make me cry, and I want to go out with a bit more dignity than a sniveling child."

"David." Temari blinked at the darkness.

"What?"

"My name is David. I figured that since we've been through all of this together and are about to die together you should at least know my real name." Temari forced the tears back, knowing that if they kept up with all of the mushy stuff she really would start crying.

"David, huh? I think I like Screech better." A chuckle broke the stale silence that lay heavy on the air.

"Yeah. My wife never called me by my real name either, though I think she just had more fun with what she called me."

"Wife? You said you forgot all about your past life."

"Ah, Girly, you never forget." He sighed, his voice cracking in a way that gave a hint of tears, "You never forget their faces or their smiles. They'll always be branded on our souls." The two sat in silence for a moment, finding themselves just simply waiting for the end that they had seen coming for years.

The bolt to the heavy metal door of their cell began to slide open and Temari wished that they were closer so that she could have to comfort of human touch for those last few moments she would be cursed to live.

"Hey Screech?"

"Hmm?"

"Will they forgive us?" She asked, closing her eyes as the ominous music of the mechanisms in the door working echoed miserably in her ears.

"Oh God," Screech whispered, so uncharacteristically quiet for the usually crazy and loud man. "Oh dear God I hope so."

* * *

The last cell. They were finally, mercifully, at the last cell.

Swallowing the bile that coated their throats and filled their mouths the team pulled the heavy metal door open with leadened arms, the ghosts of the past cells already weighing heavily on their souls. But they would finish this. They would open this one last door and then try and seal the images of this hateful day away into the deepest hollows of their hearts.

The door swung all the way open and they stared into a depthless darkness that almost seemed to swallow up all of the light and happiness that the world dared to have. Pulling out their flashlights they swept them in slow and reluctant arcs over the stone floor, hesitant to actually see what waited for them.

The beams of light touched upon a slim foot first, dirt covered and cracked. The lights trailed up over thin legs and protruding ribs, over uneven scars and angry stitches and up to a hollow cheeked face with two wide and shadowed green eyes that stared at the unknown intruders.

"Oh, oh God," Yuu whispered, "She's alive. She's actually alive."

The group felt their breath catch and their hearts clench as they looked at her and sent up silent prayers, their knees going weak as they stared upon the silent prisoner, the only survivor and hope they had found in the hell they had been forced to infiltrate. Senji walked around to stand so that the woman wouldn't have to squint blindly against the glaring light of the flashlights to try and see them.

"Hello? Can you understand us? You don't have to be afraid." He began, speaking in low and soothing tones, keeping his hands visible so that she would be able to see that he meant her no harm.

"You're not any of the nurses or doctors." She said, her voice low and raspy, cracking on some of the syllables as if she hadn't had a drink of water in eons.

"We're not. We are ninjas from the hidden village of the mist and we were sent here on a mission to infiltrate this facility and capture those who run it. And we came to save you." He said, feeling the strength in those final words. All of that pain, all of that mind destroying madness that had filled all of those other cells, maybe it could all be soothed by the balm of saving this one life. Maybe with this they could begin to forgive themselves.

The woman closed her eyes tightly, holding those words close to her heart and warming her chilled soul. "Screech, did you hear that?" She murmured, desperately trying to savor all of the emotions that were racing through her, emotions she had long thought dead and gone.

"Every word." The group jumped at the unexpected second voice, the beams of their flashlights moving in wild arcs as they tried to find the source.

"We're leaving." She whispered, tears beginning to slip unashamedly down her cheeks, "We're going home." She sagged against the wall bonelessly, her trembling hands going up to touch her lips, as if she just couldn't believe that such beautiful words had actually passed her lips.

And with tears of pure relief and hope racing down her cheeks she tilted her head back, and -for the first time in nearly ten years- she laughed.

* * *

Ahh... Finally.

Okay, do you see that last part? Huh? Guess what I did in one of my moments of infinite wisdom? I deleted the original version of it by accident. Yeah, you read that right.

I deleted it because that's how bad I suck.

You see, I use a little USB drive thing (Yes, I know that's probably not what it's actually called, but I'm crazy so I can call it what I want) so that I can work on my stories when I'm out of the house because I can't take my computer with me everywhere. So I managed to finish this part out of the house and I came home so ecstatically happy, and I plugged it into my computer and accidentally saved the old version over the newer version.

Aren't I smart?

But I managed to remember the skeleton of those last few paragraphs, so it really isn't that bad.

This was for my sweet little baby Ninquelot who has been asking for this for a little while and has been patiently waiting like the precious darling he is. He also sent me a private message (My first one, isn't that just fabulous?) to give me support, which urged me to finish the second part as quickly as possible (I mean, I just flew through typing those last pages).

Love you all!


	45. Coming Back to You, ShikaTema - Part 2

In case you didn't notice in the title, this is part two so please read part one before you read this.

Or you could be a rebel and read it backwards, and if you do... more power to you.

* * *

Naruto strode quickly through the halls hospital, his Hokage robes snapping around him dramatically as he ate up the distance between him and his destination, the determined look on his face keeping away anyone who dared to want to engage him in idle chitchat. Never breaking his stride he brushed past nurses who tried to get him to pause, easily opening the previously locked door and stepping inside the office that no one -upon punishment of death- was to enter.

"Naruto, I put up with a lot from you because I love you, but I'm warning you right now that I _will _kill you if you've come in here to tell me something I will find to be very stupid." Sakura looked up at him from over the numerous files and papers that littered her desk. "I do have a hospital to run, you know." Naruto remained silent, quickly making a silence jutsu and sealing the room up so tightly that even his ANBU guard wouldn't be able to infiltrate it without some serious effort.

Seeing this and the serious look on his face Sakura sat her paperwork aside, her forehead knitting together because she _knew _that whatever was about to come out of his mouth was going to be something big.

"Naruto? What is it?" He walked forward and produced an envelope out of seemingly thin air, holding it as if the information it held was as fragile as spun glass.

"There are some Mist-nin coming in about an hour who have found a missing leaf ninja." Sakura blinked, not all that sure about how to connect everything to get the big picture just yet.

"And? Who is it?"

"Temari." Sakura gaped, not all that sure that she had heard him correctly. After all, there was no way he could have ever said what she had thought he had said. "What? Did you just say that they found _Temari? _As in, disappeared ten years ago without ever being heard about again Temari?" He nodded and pulled the picture of the prisoner that the mist nin had found out and handed it over to Sakura.

The pink haired woman looked it over, unbelieving that what she was seeing and hearing could be the truth. While the woman in the picture was obviously and astonishingly malnourished and absurdly thin, her hair a mess, Sakura could see in the bone structure that this was absolutely and completely Temari. They had finally found her.

"Oh God, Naruto! Have you told Shikamaru yet?" He shook his head and flopped back into one of Sakura's chairs on the other side of the desk.

"Why not?"

"What if it's actually not her? What if I tell him and it ruins everything for him? And what if she's not ready to see him? We don't know what's happened to her these past ten years." Sakura sighed and slouched back into her chair, nodding as she conceded his point.

"So why are you telling me this? If it's going to be a secret from even Shikamaru I'm guessing that you're not supposed to be telling me."

"Nope. It's supposed to be completely top secret."

"Then why? You know this will probably piss the council off." She warned, but the blonde merely shrugged. "Yeah, I know. But I figured that she probably needs to be checked over again and it might be better if it were by someone she knows, if she can even remember any of us. And I can take care of the old hags." He shrugged and Sakura felt her lips twitch. Even after all the years, even after everything they had went through, Naruto still managed to be Naruto. His job and family might have matured him a bit but when she looked she still saw that glimmer of the troublemaker thirteen year old in his eyes.

"So about an hour?" He nodded and Sakura furrowed her forehead as she tried to find the best way to do this. "Well, if they bring her into the hospital there's a chance of someone happening by and noticing, like a nosy nurse or something like that. But the Hokage tower has even nosier ninjas poking their noses into your business. But maybe we could set up a private room and make sure that even the nurses can't get in. I'll have to use the ANBU to secure the hallway, but it'll make sure that the only people that are allowed in are you, the mist nin and me." Naruto nodded.

"Alright then, do that." Sakura nodded and then winced, hissing.

"Damn."

"What? What happened?"

Sakura propped her chin on her fist and gazed down at her desk mournfully. "Nothing. I'm just thinking about all of the paperwork this is going to turn out to be."

Naruto winced sympathetically but made sure to get out of there as soon as possible since there was no way he was taking the chance of getting roped into doing more paperwork than he had to.

* * *

Temari, still so terribly weak after her years of confinement, made the journey back home in the arms of the giant all of the mist ninjas called Butch. They stopped for a rest half an hour away from Konoha, just half an hour away from her home, her old life, her happiness.

God, she knew that everything had changed and she wasn't certain that she wanted to see it all. But she had to, she needed to.

They were all sitting around in a circle, eating and chatting idly when Temari shakily stood up, making her wobbly way to one of the trees to lean heavily on it, pressing her hand to the rough bark as she tried to breathe past the panic.

She didn't know how things would go after she stepped -or was carried- through those gates again. Would she be welcomed? Would she be treated like some delicate doll? Would they even actually care?

Shaking her head she forced those thoughts away, telling herself that everything would be fine, that she'd get through it all perfectly fine. Hadn't she made a promise to Screech?

_They sat together in silence at the open window of the room the Mizukage had given Temari to stay in, content to simply sit together and watch the sunrise, the morning breeze brushing kisses across their faces, welcoming them back like an old and dear friend. They both felt an ingrained itch that warned them that something so good could only be ruined, but they ignored it, so happy to just sit and bask in their freedom._

_They had just been told that the "Doctor" and the surviving members of his cult like staff had been captured and taken in for interrogation. There was no way that they were going to escape execution, so the two felt their troubled souls beginning to be soothed by the balm of knowing that their torturers were going to be justly punished._

_Temari turned her head slightly and looked at Screech from the corner of her eye, still surprised by how the man actually looked._

_His thick black hair curled around his gaunt face, liberally streaked with gray. His face was heavily wrinkled and aged after all the years of imprisonment, his dark eyes strong and yet slightly skittish. His hands were so wide -worker's hands- and his bones so frail. Temari supposed that she really shouldn't be surprised about his appearance, after all, she had questioned if he actually existed until they had finally gotten out of the cell and it had been made obvious that other people could see him._

_"My wife's name was -is- Luce. We lived on a small farm in the grass country and grew our crops. She was so beautiful and kind. She had the strongest hands of any woman, and she could work right out beside me in the fields when others probably would have stayed inside. We had -HAVE- a daughter together named Celia. She was six when I left... That was nearly -God- eighteen years now." He laughed his usual nervous and high pitched giggle._

_"I might even have grandchildren now."_

_Temari sat still beside him, offering her everlasting and silent support. "I... They've probably moved on. I mean, eighteen years, who would wait that long for someone like me?" Temari moved her hand from her lap and over to touch his arm gently with her fingertips._

_"And if they have? What will you do?"He smiled weakly at her and shrugged his thin shoulders._

_"They're my family. Even if they've moved on, I want to know them. I want to learn about what they've done and what they've become. I want to see if my daughter remembers my face or the promise she made me to not cut her hair until I got back." He chuckled, a low and mournfully sad sound. "Though it's pretty silly for me to even think that she would do that."_

_"So you're going to go back?" She asked quietly, thinking about the complete fear that always grabbed her by the throat with razor talons when she thought of ever going back and seeing how things changed. Seeing how her family had changed and left her behind._

_God, she was such a pitiful coward._

_"What else can I do? I miss them, I've always missed them, always held onto the thought of them as if it was the only thing that could keep me alive -and it probably was. I want to see them and be able to know that I'm finally out of that hell. I want to become whole again."_

_His hand came up and touched hers softly, their fingers touching each other lightly, both of them still shy from actual contact. "I'm not saying that you should go back to your home just because I am -maybe you're not ready. But I know how desperately you held onto them, I know how difficult it was for you to even imagine forgetting them. I was there with you through every moment of doubt and desperation and I know how badly you don't want to see them living without you. But I also know that you can't heal completely until you do go back. You need them, Girly. You need them so much more than you know."_

_They'd continued to sit there in silence even after the night had fallen, the lights in their room thankfully blinking on before the darkness became too overwhelming._

_Three weeks later Screech and one of the two three man teams that had saved them had been preparing to head out to the place Screech had once called home so many years ago. Temari came out to watch the departure, sitting patiently in the wheelchair they had given her since her legs -after years of not being used as they should- were still unable to hold up her weight._

_"Screech," She called, watching as the little man turned and hobbled over to her, his legs only slightly stronger than hers. _

_"I'm going to go back. I... I want to see them. I want to see them so badly that it hurts." He smiled at her, a surprisingly soft and gentle smile that didn't fit with the voice that she heard all of the years that she had only had that voice and the darkness as company. He put his hand gently on her shoulder and leaned in to press a light kiss to her forehead._

_"Good girl." He whispered. He leaned back and smiled at her again before holding out his hand cordially to her._

_"It was nice knowing you all these years, Temari. I hope I'll see you again someday." Temari held his hand in hers and squeezed it slightly._

_"Yeah," She whispered, her voice suspiciously hoarse, "It was great knowing you, David."_

_**Thank you for being my sanity.**_

Temari had told him that she was going but now that she almost there, just a mere mile away, she just wanted to hide away from the truth that those gates hid so skillfully. Because she knew that everything had changed, that everything and everyone had moved on without her. How was she going to catch up? Would anyone even want her to?

"Temari-san? Are you ready to go?" She turned her head to look back at Senji, shifting her eyes to look over in the direction that Konoha lay. Was she ready? Could she do this?

"Yes." She whispered, lifting her chin and throwing her shoulders back, saying in a stronger and firmer voice, "Yes, I'm ready."

Because -God help her- she was going home.

* * *

They used a jutsu to hide her as they raced over rooftops, the ANBU escorting them to the private room the hospital had reserved for her -or so they told her since she couldn't see out of the cloak they had tucked her in. They jumped through the window and quickly closed it behind them, sealing the room up so that no one, no matter how skilled or curious, could find themselves eavesdropping.

Gently, as if he weren't the size of a house with hands like dinner platters, Butch peeled back the cloak and allowed Temari to blink at the gentle and calming colors of the room. It was different than what she was used to, but since what she was used to was an underground stone cell that the light never once shined in she wasn't all that worried about it.

Butch delicately sat her down so that she was sitting on the bed, moving back so that she could absorb all of her surroundings in their entirety. The door opened and everybody went on alert, turning quickly to protect their charge from whatever danger this stranger presented.

Sakura jumped as everyone whipped towards her, glaring as they reached for their kunai. "Hey," She said, holding up her hands and the clipboard to show that she posed no real threat. They didn't relax and she ran her eyes over the group to assess them and look for any weaknesses they could have that she could use against them, but she froze when her eyes passed over the person on the bed.

Thick and coarse wheat blonde hair tangled down to mid-back, thin limbs folded and wrapped around a thin frame as if to protect the frail body from any harm. Her pale skin was pulled tightly across her boney frame, her face made gaunt by the lack of nutrition over the years, though she was better than what Sakura had seen in the picture Naruto had had. Green eyes, while shadowed and dulled by hours upon hours of pain, were so blindingly familiar that Sakura's breath caught.

"Temari." She whispered, holding the clipboard so tightly that it threatened to crack. The blonde looked her over and smiled a brittle smile.

"Hey Sakura. It's been a while, huh?"

Sakura choked out a tear filled laugh, blinking so that she could keep the woman in focus. "You know who I am? You didn't forget?"

"How could I forget that pink hair of yours? It isn't exactly common, you know." Her voice had changed and it was now hoarser and lower, as if something had been done to her throat. Taking a breath the pink haired girl stepped forward and shifted into business mode, sensing that Temari wasn't exactly ready for a tear filled reunion.

"Well, I'll just check you over to make sure everything is going alright with your body." One of the mist nin -a man who seemed to be the size of a twelve year old- stepped forward as if affronted. "Do you believe that we have not given her the proper care?" Sakura shook her head and plugged her stethoscope in her ears.

"No, I've seen the medical care from your village and I have no worries about the abilities of any of your medics. But Temari is a very important person to us and I want to just make sure myself." The three ninjas nodded and stepped back to allow Sakura to come forward, stopping when Temari held up one of her thin hands.

"Could you... take off the jacket? It doesn't really remind me of any pleasant memories." Sakura nodded, not knowing the exact details of her friend's imprisonment but willing to do anything to put her at ease. She slipped of her doctor's coat and tossed it across the room, walking carefully to Temari, making sure she always stayed in her line of sight.

She was careful and thorough in her examination, gentle and always watching to make sure she didn't push her too far. The wounds she found made her feel violently ill, the scars and scabs making her skin crawl in the most horrible way. She could see the unnecessary operations, the pain and terror that had soaked every stitch that had torn through her skin. She could see it all, and mourned.

Halfway through the examination when Temari was laying back on the bed, her shirt off as Sakura sent small waves of chakra through her body to find even the most minor of discrepancies, Naruto burst into the room in his usual callous fashion.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, how is she?" The mist nin blinked at the sudden appearance of the load man, not sure what to make of the fact that he wearing the Hokage robes. Sakura, vein pulsing furiously on her forehead, grabbed the empty vase that sat on the bedside table and chucked it at him.

"God, you idiot! You don't just come in here screaming like that!" Naruto ducked easily and winced apologetically, the mist nin gaping at how the woman treated her leader. "Yeah, yeah, my bad." He apologized, grinning at the pink haired girl until she sighed and forgave him.

"Ah," Mimi intergected, "Are you two, you know," She held up her pinkie and Sakura gaped, completely shocked as Naruto roared with laughter. How on _earth _could people think she was with _him_? Didn't they see her just throw a vase at his face?

"No! We're both married to _completely_ different people!"

"Just because you're married doesn't mean you're not together." Naruto had tears streaming down his face, he was laughing so hard, and Sakura's forehead vein had started pulsing anew. "We are in no way together!" She practically screeched, and Naruto -figuring that she had had enough- waved his hand to catch the group's attention.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen. I'm very happily married and -hey, how about I show you a picture? See, this is Hinata, my wife -isn't she the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen?- and that's our youngest, Mino. How many kids? Oh, we have five, three girls and two boys. See, here's another picture!" Sakura, knowing the astonishing number of pictures that Naruto carried with him of his family and knowing how long he could go on about them knew that she had to stop him now or else they'd never be able to focus on the task before them.

"Hey, Naruto! What did you come here for?" He blinked at her for a moment before tucking his photos back, grinning sheepishly at his pink haired friend.

"Ah, yeah. I came to see how Temari was doing." All eyes focused back on Temari and she smiled weakly at them, though it was a better smile than the one that she had given Sakura earlier.

"I'm doing fine. Better now that I've seen you two." Because they had showed her that no matter how much might have changed there was still so much that would have stayed the same, like how everything was when Sakura and Naruto got together.

"That's great!" Naruto enthused, coming over to sit beside the bed, restraining himself from grabbing onto her and holding on. He was just so deliriously happy that she had come back to them that he could barely control himself. But he wasn't stupid and he wasn't blind and he could clearly see that she was hurting and wasn't ready for all of that just yet.

Sakura finished the rest of the examination while Naruto politely averted his eyes, asking Temari questions about the mission she had been on all those years ago, trying to get the full picture of a mission they had known nothing about for years now.

After she was done Naruto nodded, his face serious as he sat back in his chair. "Well, we put Jin's name on the memorial stone years ago so there won't need to be a change there."

"And mine?" Temari asked quietly, confused by Naruto's sudden smile.

"Oh no, we don't need to do anything about you. Shikamaru never signed off on your death." Temari blinked, not really sure that she had understood him. If Shikamaru hadn't signed the papers to pronounce her dead that meant that she was still married to him. Which meant that Shikamaru hadn't married anyone else. Which meant he hadn't moved on.

Oh, thank God.

"Speaking of Shikamaru, do you want to see him? I can go get him for you if you do." Temari lifted her hand and touched the ends of her hair, suddenly and frighteningly nervous.

"Uh, is there anywhere I can take a shower first?" Sakura smiled sympathetically and nodded, helping her up. "Yeah, you have your own private bathroom with all of the amenities just through this door here."

Naruto watched the two of them get up and then started towards the door, waving to the mist nin as he went. "You guys can just stay here if you want to wait, just ask the ANBU for anything you want. I'll be back with some company." He said as he stepped out into the hall.

* * *

"Oh, come on Shikamaru, you can't be serious! Think of the children." Maria begged, though Shikamaru only rolled his eyes at the woman and ignored the puppy eyes she was giving him. Really, she should have known that things like that just wouldn't effect him.

"Maria, no matter what you say, we're not going to the hot springs."

"Why?" She whined, childishly slumping down so that her entire body was practically out of her chair, her chin propped on the table as she looked up at him with eyes that were getting bigger and bigger by the moment.

"Troublesome." He muttered as he flipped to the next page of his newspaper, ignoring the woman as she pouted.

"Oh, come on! You all need a vacation and it will be like a bonding activity. We'll leave town for a couple days, spend some time together being pampered at the hot spring and spa and then we'll come back closer than ever." Seeing the aloof expression that meant she wouldn't be getting her way, Maria huffed and sat up to shove her face closer to his, invading his personal space in a hope that maybe this would break him.

"Please? I mean, Asuma will be a teenager in a few months and then both of them are going to be aloof and crazy mean with their hormones because of puberty and general teen craziness and I just want us all to have some fun. Together." She fluttered her eyelashes and pressed, sensing that he might just crack.

"Please? Please, please, please, please, pleeeeeeeeaaaaaase? Plea-" She was interrupted by a knock on the door. Huffing out her breath she slouched back and crossed her arms over her chest, pouting as Shikamaru walked to the door and escaped.

Shikamaru sighed as he went to the door, already seeing that he was going to cave to Maria's plan, especially when she got to Kyoko roped into the thing. The two of them together when they set their minds to it were damn near unstoppable.

So troublesome.

Opening the door he sighed again when he saw who it was, leaning against the door jam lazily. "Oh, Naruto. What is it?" He heard Kyoko and Asuma come in through the back door, Maria's voice rising as she welcomed them back and undoubtedly started her pitch for the hot spring trip. Naruto's face was strangely serious, his eyes hooded and his face stern without his usual smile.

"Shikamaru," He said, his voice immediately causing the man to go on alert, straightening from his slouch. "I want you to come with me."

"Is it something work related?" He asked and Naruto shook his head.

Suddenly an unexplainable shaft of hope was hammered right into his gut, one that made his muscles tighten in anticipation and his stomach drop in dread at the thought that he could be wrong. But looking into Naruto's eyes and seeing that shifting glimmer in them, Shikamaru knew.

Oh dear God he _knew_.

He paled and tightened his hold on the door, his breath wheezing for a few heart beats, the sheer rush of emotions making his knees weak. "I..." He wheezed again, unable to figure out just what he was going to do now. He knew what he wanted to do, he wanted to run as fast as he could right back into the place he had missed the most.

God, he could practically taste how close he was to the paradise he had so long ago lost.

But his children were behind him with Maria -Oh God, what was he going to do about Maria?

"Shikamaru?"

"I... Just give me a minute." He didn't wait to see if Naruto nodded his head or not, he just closed the door in his face and made his way shakily back to the kitchen. Maria looked up with a brilliant smile on her face and just beamed at him. "Oh, Shikamaru! You'll never guess what Asuma and Kyoko think about the hot springs..." She got quieter as she saw his face, noticing how pale he was and how he held onto the door way so tightly for support. "Trip." She murmured with a heavy heart.

Because she knew. She didn't know how, she didn't know why, but she just fucking knew.

And it broke her heart.

"I..." He started, leading off as he stared through her with glazed eyes. "I've got to... I need to..."

"Go." She told him, his eyes immediately snapping to focus on her. "Don't worry, I'll watch the kids for you." He blinked and she saw a flash of regret in his eyes, a flash of what could have and would never be in those damnable eyes.

"Thank you." He whispered hoarsely, turning to quickly race away, the door slamming shut with a finality that made her flinch.

"Maria? What happened? What was that all about?" Maria looked down into the curious face of Kyoko and smiled, easily hiding her tears from the girl.

_What happened? Not much, just me getting my heart shattered, that's all._

"Nothing." She said chipperly, tucking her hair behind her ear as she walked over to the fridge to see if there was anything she could fix for supper. "It's just that we won't be going on that hot spring trip."

"Man, that sucks."

"Yes," She whispered, staring tearfully at Tupperware bowl of pasta. "Yes it does."

* * *

_This is just a dream._

_This is just a dream._

_Please God, let this be a dream._

The dreams were so much better than the nightmares. In the dreams he got to hold her, got to touch her, go to love her, even if it were just for moments. He raced over the rooftops, Naruto barely able to keep up with his desperate pace. He could hear the words he was telling him as if they were being filtered through padded steel, muffled and distant.

They got to the hospital and Naruto had to catch him before he tried to get in through the window or through the front door and the crowds inside. They got in through the door on the roof and then they raced down the stairs. They passed ANBU but Shikamaru didn't see them, all he saw was that final door that held everything he had ever dreamed of.

One of the ANBU, just following the orders that had been given, saw Shikamaru and pinned him to the wall, readying to strike just before Naruto laid a hand on his shoulder. "Hold him still," He murmured, moving so that he filled Shikamaru's line of vision, blocking the door.

"Shikamaru, you need to calm down. She's been through a lot and I don't want to much on her all at once. So just... calm down."

"She's in there? She's really in there?" Naruto nodded and squeezed his shoulder, nodding for the ANBU to release him. Slowly, still feeling that piece of doubt that stuck stubbornly to his heart, he walked to the door and opened it so excruciatingly slowly that he couldn't even tell if he was making progress with it or not.

When it was finally open he stepped in and looked up, scanning the room before settling on the one thing that made his breath catch.

And his whole world focused completely on her.

The differences slapped him in the face: how astonishingly thin she was, how fragile she looked when he was so used to looking at her strength, how long her slightly damp hair was, how pale and washed out her skin looked in the harsh daylight. But everything he was used to, everything he remembered when he closed his eyes in a desperate attempt to be close to her, was still there and they made his breath stop.

Her hair was still the same thick wheat gold, the gray hairs that should have streaked it nonexistent. Her eyes were still the same astonishing green, even if they were now masked with shadows. Her features -though the skin was pulled tight across them- had the same sharp fierceness as they had always had.

It had been nearly ten years -nine years, three months and fourteen days, to be exact- since he had last seen her. Ten God-awful years.

He walked forward slowly, Temari doing the same on wobbly legs that could just barely hold up her weight. "Shikamaru," She murmured, her eyes searching his face just as desperately as his had hers. At the sound of her voice his control broke and he was at her in two quick strides, wrapping his arms around her and holding on, burying his face into the spot where her throat and shoulder met, fervently promising himself that he would never let him go again.

She stiffened in his hold momentarily, her eyes going wide with panic until she felt his trembling shudders and his ragged breaths. She relaxed into his hold as she gently lifted her arms and wrapped them around him, her eyes closing as she breathed in the scent of him -woodsmoke and cinnamon- that had long ago faded from her mind. But now she had it back, just like she had him, and she'd never let either go again.

"Hey," She chuckled roughly, burying her own face into his shoulder as they hung onto each other for dear life, "I thought you would have become less emotional over time. After all, isn't it strange to be the only one crying?" She asked, holding back tears of her own as his tears soaked her skin.

"Shut up, you stupid troublesome woman. Just shut up." He whispered, holding her tightly as a single tear soaked into his shirt. God, she had missed hearing him say that. She had missed his voice, missed the sound of her name rolling off of his lips that few times that he had actually said it. She had missed the feeling of being held by him, the strength that he lazily hid from others surrounding her. She had missed the feeling of his soft hair against her fingers, the annoying feeling of his breath puffing against the back of her neck when he fell asleep as they spooned.

She had missed everything -big or little, annoying or beloved- about him.

"I missed you." She whispered, so desperate to tell him how she felt. He squeezed her slightly closer, calming her with his familiar touch but also giving her goosebumps at the contact she was not used to.

"I missed you too. God, did I ever miss you." Everyone else eventually filtered out of the room to give them privacy, though it wasn't as if the couple had noticed them in the first place. They just continued to stand there in each other's arms until the darkness fell, content with just each other after so many haunting years apart.

_Please, God, don't let this be a dream._

* * *

No, this is not the end. I know I said only two parts, but there's so much more! (How did Temari reconcile with her kids? How did they take having her come suddenly back? How will Shikamaru and Temari's relationship go? Will she forgive him for Maria? What will happen between Temari and Maria? These are the questions you should torture yourself with! (Cause I already know the answers ;P))

Third part will be up as soon as possible, but it might be a couple of days, I have to read _Pride and Prejudice_ for my AP English class, and keeping my A will have to be a priority (But I won't forget about you my darlings!)

Tata! See you soon!


	46. Coming Back to You, ShikaTema - Part 3

Here it is, my lovlies, the third and final instalment of Temari's angsty ending.

Yes! It's done! I'm_ freeeeee_!

But beware, those of you whose undies might get in a bunch, there's a sexy scene in here (not going to change the entire rating for a couple of paragraphs) It's at the end, and I didn't go very in depth. It was mainly about the feelings and worries and such.

* * *

"Okay, I've stimulated your muscles with chakra so that it will be easier to walk but you need to make sure to come back for physical therapy. I've written down a number for a psychiatrist -Shikamaru, I need you to make sure that she calls it. I don't care how well she says she is- I want you to come in for a checkup in a few weeks, and don't worry, I'll make sure to do it personally." She put the chart down on the side table and crouched down next to the side of the bed that Temari was sitting on, her eyes silently focused on the floor as she tried to remember how to breathe.

This was it. For the past couple of days they had kept her in her private room in the hospital, the only ones allowed to come in Shikamaru, Naruto, Sakura and the three mist nin, though they had left the day before. It had been safe, comforting. But with this she'd be leaving all of that and stepping out and into the unknown.

She just wasn't ready yet. Not for the friends she would have to face, not for the horrors of being a stranger in her own home, not for this, not for anything.

And most definitely not for meeting her children.

"Hey," Sakura said, waiting for the other woman's eyes to jump up and meet hers before she continued. "Don't worry about it. Whatever it is, whatever you're afraid of, just forget about it. We're here for you now, Temari, and we aren't going anywhere. Just go home. That's all you have to do." Temari nodded her head and exhaled the breath she hadn't been aware of holding.

"Right. I'll do that." Sakura nodded and smiled at her, standing up and leaving the room to allow them a moment of privacy before they went to brave the storm. Shikamaru stood away from her, leaning against the wall next to the door as he waited for her.

It was strange, she mused, that even after all the years apart he could still tell exactly what she needed. She didn't want platitudes or a discussion over why her feelings were completely normal; she just wanted to sit there for a few moments while she talked herself into it. Because she could get up, she could walk out that door and look around at the home she had been forced from so many years ago, she could look at the people she had once known and hold her head up high. She could look at her children and not break apart as the truth of the years that had passed attempted to squeeze her heart from her chest.

Or so she hoped.

"Okay," She said quietly, but even when quiet her voice held a thread of determined strength that she had believed long ago lost. "I'm ready." Shikamaru nodded and held out a hand, helping her to stand up and then walking beside her, emitting a protective "Fuck off" aura as they walked through the halls.

She knew people stared, she could feel their dagger like gazes on the back of her neck, but she kept her chin up, ignoring them as she stuck to her decision to walk back home instead of being carried over the rooftops like an child. She relied on the strength that Shikamaru silently sent her through his gentle hold that he had on her upper arm, guiding her on the path that she had never thought she would take again.

The horrendous house on third street was still there, still absurdly pink after all the years that she had been gone, though now the apparently color blind owner had painted the roof and windows a lime green. They had chopped down the large cherry tree that she had always found so beautiful next to the park so that now only a stump remained. The big dog that had lived down the street from their house and had always terrified Asuma was now apparently gone, replaced by a chihuahua that she already wanted to kill. There was so much that had changed but oh so much that had stayed the same.

Temari turned to the little duplex she and Shikamaru had begun renting so many years ago, remembering the first time they had stepped into it, the first time they had called it home. That ridiculous potted plant that she had foolishly hoped to maintain but then had thrown out when the leaves had gotten annoying and it had started dying because she had kept on forgetting to water it. The first time they had brought each of the kids home. She remembered all of it, and it made her knees weak.

"When did you plant flowers?" She asked, her voice suspiciously hoarse as she took in the flower garden that wrapped around the building somewhat.

"The neighbor, Maria, likes to garden. And since I figured that it was wasted space I just let her use it." Temari nodded, already figuring that it would have had to have been something like that since Shikamaru was probably still just as lazy as the day she had left. The thought put a small smile to her lips as she stepped up to the small concrete porch, waiting for Shikamaru to unlock the door so that she could open it and step inside.

The little entry nook was cluttered with discarded shoes and jackets hanging off of pegs. She saw a small and sloppy crayon drawing down near the bottom of the corner next to the door and smiled, remembering the day that Kyoko had proudly presented her with that masterpiece. She slipped out of her shoes and silently made her way through the hall, her fingers trailing lightly over the wall as she wandered through like a ghost, looking for anything and everything that would be familiar and could put her at ease.

"Where are the kids?" She asked, wanting so desperately to see them but also needing to run away to try and find her strength before that confrontation could even be imaginable.

"They're down at Ino and Choji's. They've spent the past couple nights there while I was with you." She nodded and stepped into the living-room, tears prickling her eyes as she looked it over and saw exactly how much everything had changed.

She remembered the clutter of toys that she would have to clean up or step over, the organized chaos and controlled disorganization. She remembered the crayons that had been constantly strewn across the room that she had always stepped on and the stuffed animals that had always found their way in between the couch cushions to later dig into her hip.

But none of that was there anymore.

The floor was clean but for a pair of shoes that had been discarded on the rug. Papers and text-books -remains of homework- littered the coffee table instead of the coloring pages and small snacks that had been there when she had left. A stray kunai was resting idly on the side table and Temari thought back to how when she had been there last they had had to hide all of their weapons from the sticky fingers of their children. God, how ten years changed things.

She turned her head and saw the shelves of framed photos, her steps guiding her there before it even fully registered to her how seeing such things could affect her. Before it registered how such things had the potential to cripple her.

There were the familiar pictures of Kyoko and Asuma as babies, ones she traced her finger tip over to make sure she didn't forget even a single detail ever again. But after those Temari saw the unfamiliar ones, the ones that had been taken after she had gone. There were only a handful from those first few years, but they were such precious memories that she had missed out on.

Smiling birthdays with tidy little cakes, their eyes wide in that still moment as they basked in the wonder of their special day. A Christmas photo of the kids -so tiny but so much bigger that she remembered- and their grandparents and Shikamaru sitting in front of a brightly decorated tree and piles of presents wrapped in sparkling paper and ribbons. Kyoko and Asuma's first day of school, Kyoko's graduation, her forehead protector still shiny and new. Lazy days, fun days, they were all there. All unknown to her, but she wanted them so much that she ached.

A shaking hand picked up one of the frames, her pain filled eyes flicking over the photo as she looked at them, looked at her babies that had grown up without her, probably forgetting her after all of their years apart.

Kyoko had gotten so big, the awkward angles that had been so achingly apparent even when she had been little smoothing out, she could see how gangly she had been growing up in the photos, but in this latest one she looked more feminine, though she still hadn't grown into all of her body. Her hair hung loose around her face, softening the sharp cheekbones and framing her dark eyes.

Asuma looked like she had always imagined- wide green eyes dominating his round face, so tiny next to his tall sister. Blonde hair was pulled back into a tiny stub of a ponytail, two pieces framing his face. He hid his thin body in baggy clothes, slouching slightly as he stared at the camera unsmiling, apparently having the same attitude as his father though he looked much sweeter on his delicate and wide-eyed face. He looked like a taller version of the toddler she remembered so dearly.

Good God they were teenagers now- Kyoko was sixteen, Asuma just months away from thirteen. All of those years, gone.

All of those memories and smiles she had missed suddenly piled onto her shoulders, weighing her down and threatening to make her crumble. But she withstood the pressure and the pain, promising herself that she wouldn't break. Not yet. Not until she had actually seen their faces in person with her own two eyes.

She closed her eyes tightly and held the photo to her chest, her lips trembling as she mouthed their names. "They've gotten so big." She whispered, feeling the prickle on the back of her neck that meant he was watching her.

"Asuma's about to graduate from the academy- Top of his class. He would have been like me in school if he hadn't been trying to outdo Kyoko. They're both amazing with the shadow techniques, and Kyoko made chunin on her first try. They're amazing kids." She squeezed her eyes closed even tighter and held on to the photo even more desperately.

She knew. She knew they were amazing. She could see it in the photos, feel it in her heart. Her's and Shikamaru's children obviously wouldn't be any less than absolutely incredible. But it killed her to know that she hadn't been able to see all of it first hand, that she hadn't been able to be there and be a part of it all.

Taking a shuddering breath she pulled the photo back and gently touched each of their faces, pausing when she got to one that she didn't recognize.

The woman was lovely in a pleasantly warm way. Soft brown hair fluffed around her shoulders, wide and warm brown eyes smiling back at the camera happily, freckles dusting her cheeks and shaving away years from her face. She had the tiniest of creases at the corners of her mouth and eyes- happy lines that told of a laughter filled and joyous life. She had her arm around Kyoko's thin shoulders, her opposite hand on Asuma's shoulder as she leaned in towards Shikamaru. Looking up, Temari saw her in dozens of other pictures, all of them always smiling and always happy. Together.

They were a family.

"Who..." She cleared the tightness out of her throat, "Who is this?" Shikamaru didn't have to ask who, he didn't have to pretend as if he didn't know what she was talking about or that he didn't care and she didn't matter.

He wasn't going to lie to her.

"Maria, the neighbor." Temari let out a short and slightly bitter laugh.

"The one with the flowers." She whispered, touching her face on the photograph too.

"Yes. She takes care of us: watches over the children, cooks meals, helps with the cleaning." That was understandable. That was acceptable. But the way she gravitated towards Shikamaru in each of the photos, the way she subconsciously leaned into him and the way he leaned back, that all hinted at a story with a deeper plot.

"Have you slept with her?" It actually physically pained her to voice that thought, each word sending barbed-wire arrows deep into her tender heart.

"Yes." She supposed that she should have been grateful that he hadn't bothered with false platitudes, that he had looked right at her and spoke the truth. And it had been ten years, it made sense that he would have found somebody else in such a long amount of time, it made sense that he had attempted to move on. Her reasonable side understood this.

But dammit, it hurt too much for her to care.

"Temari," He started, stepping forward and reaching out to grab hold of her. She slapped his hand away, stepping back as she averted her eyes from him. "No!" She said harshly, flinching back from his touch. "Just... don't touch me." She needed time. She needed space. She needed to _breathe._

She needed...

"Dad?" Everything froze. Time, perception, Shikamaru and her. Everything just stopped at the sound of that voice, husky but still with those hints of a child.

"Dad, what's going on? Who's..." Shikamaru moved, shifting out of the way so that Temari could see her. So that she could see Temari.

She was standing in the doorway, her dark eyes observing every detail in the room and filing it away for later. Smooth black hair fell straight down to brush her shoulder blades, sharp features still holding a smidgen of childhood and long legs and arms dominated on the girl. She was tall, at least five foot ten, and pretty in a fiercely exotic sort of way.

"Kyoko." Temari breathed, her hands clutching the photo desperately as she tried to absorb every single thing about to girl in the little time she had. God, she was beautiful. It was stunning to see such a perfect mixture of her and Shikamaru in one vessel. One single, perfect, vessel.

Kyoko stared, her lips parting on a gasp as she stared at the woman across the room. Her wheat blonde hair tangled around her face and fell down to her mid-back, emerald green eyes made wide and vulnerable by the shock stared at her. She was absurdly thin and pale, and she looked so fragile that it seemed that a breath of air would knock her down. Kyoko hadn't seen her in ten years except for in pictures, but even through the dramatic differences she could see the woman that had given her life, the woman who had soothed her as a child as she had sung off key after the nightmares had frightened her.

Even through the frail bones and broken eyes, she could see her mother.

"Sissy, why'd you run off like that? It isn't like it's all that important to grab the..." Asuma strode around the corner, glancing over to see what his sister was staring so obviously at and he ended up staring himself, the only thought racing through his head was that this couldn't possibly be real. There was just no way.

"Geeze, you two. What did you think I meant when I said, _'Hey, I need to stop by the tea shop to grab a package Anzu ordered'_? It wasn't some new way of saying, 'hey, why don't you run off to the house your father has banned you from getting in for the next week or so and hope that he won't find out.' I mean, do you two not know how to listen or something because-" Ino stopped her ranting as she stepped behind the children and notice the extra person as well.

Ino had changed over the years as well, though it wasn't by so much that she was unrecognizable. Her long blonde hair was pulled up into her usual ponytail, her wide blue eyes stunned. There were the tiniest of creases at the corners of her eyes, looking younger than her actual age since she locked in a fierce battle with aging where her weapons were tubes of creams and bottles with promises.

"Temari." She gasped, the first person to break the growing silence. Temari blinked at her before lifting the corner of her mouth in a weak smile, worrying endlessly over the silence that her children continued on with. Did they not want to see her? Did they not recognize her? Did they not know how to call her since it appeared that precious little Maria was their mother now?

"Hey, Ino." Ino gasped again, as if not actually expecting her to answer, and dashed forward, wrapping Temari in a tight hug that threatened to crack her in two, ignoring the shocked and almost desperate look the woman gave at the sudden and unexpected action.

"Oh, oh my God, I can't believe that you're actually back. What happened? Where were you? How did they find you?" She pulled back before Temari could attempt to avoid answering, holding up on of her hands to stop Temari from speaking as the other wiped her tears. "No, you don't want to talk about it. I understand. But let me just look at you... I mean, you're so skinny! We need to get you over to my house to get some food into you. And your hair! God, and you've always hated it long too. I'll just have to cut that for you. Some clothes too and-" She stopped, seeing the frightened look in the other woman's eyes, as if she were a doe caught in the headlights. She smiled softly and took a breath, taking a mental step back.

"But we should probably take baby-steps." She said, nodding at the relieved look in the other woman's eyes. "So, how about we go upstairs and I cut your hair first, give these three a little time to talk." She suggested gently, holding her hand out. Temari looked across the room to her wide eyed children and then away, ashamed of what they must have seen, especially if they were comparing her to that Maria woman. Looking down she settled her hand softly into Ino's, silently nodding her head and allowing her to lead her out of the room and up the stairs.

* * *

Kyoko watched as the two women walked up the stairs. Watched as her mother walked up the stairs. Her _mother_. As soon as she heard the door click closed from upstairs she whirled around and stalked over to her father.

"What is this?" She hissed, making sure to not be so loud that the women upstairs could hear her. "What does this mean?"

"It means," Shikamaru said slowly, watching Kyoko pace around like one would watch a caged wild animal. "That your mother is back."

"Back from where? And why didn't you tell us? I mean, it's obvious that you've known about this for a little while since you kicked us out of the house for her." She gasped as a sudden moment of clarity washed over her. "Is that why you ran out the other day? In front of _Maria?_ Oh Dad, how could you?" Shikamaru's eyes went hard, the black turning into flinty steel.

"It is true that I care for Maria but Temari -your _mother_- is my wife whom I love. Of course I chose to go to her, regardless of who I was with at the moment. And anyway, little girl, none of this is any of your business. Especially where she was since that is in no way my story to tell." Kyoko started to shake, her fists clenched at her sides as she stared at Shikamaru with the same expression he had.

"What... What happened to her?" Came the hushed voice from the doorway. Kyoko turned and glared at him as if he were a traitor, but he ignored the heat of her glare and instead focused his wide and understanding eyes on his father. "Her eyes were just... Broken. What did they do to her to get her like that?" Because if there was one thing he remembered about his mother it was her unbending strength.

Shikamaru calmed down, gazing up as if he could see her through the floor that separated them, his eyes painfully sad. "I don't know all of it. I probably never will because that is her story to tell and I don't know if she'll ever even want to think about it again."

Asuma nodded and gazed up like his father was doing. "Will she be okay?"

"I hope so. All we can do is give her time and space enough to heal and then hope for the best." Asuma nodded and Kyoko glared at the two of them, gritting her teeth as she stomped past them and then out the back door.

* * *

Temari sat in silence as Ino cut her hair off, going for the same length she had always kept it at all those years ago. Ino didn't try and engage her into any conversation now that she had gotten off of her giddily shocked and happy high, sensing that the other woman needed some quiet and not-so-distant distance.

"Ino?" Temari asked quietly as she watched clumps of hair drift down to the floor.

"Hmm?"

"This Maria person... Have you met her?"

"Yes."

"What is she like?" Ino hesitated for the barest moment, tightening her lips as she figured that if Shikamaru had told Temari of the other woman, she could tell Temari about her.

"She's kind and energetic, warm and very chipper. She acts like a child sometimes but she also has this maturity that she hides from people, more often than not. Kyoko and Asuma love her," Temari flinched but Ino continued on as if she hadn't noticed. "They really do. She's been with them for years, and I think Shikamaru would have definitely had a harder time with them if she hadn't been there for all of them."

"And Shikamaru? How does he feel?" She asked hoarsely, the answer so blindingly apparent that it almost pained her to keep her eyes open.

"You need to ask him that." Ino murmured, stepping back and handing Temari a hand mirror that she almost seemed to magically pull from behind her back. "Here, look, we got some of the old Temari back."

Temari looked at the mirror like a frightened child, unsure of what she wanted to do. She hadn't looked in a mirror in ten years, even after her imprisonment had been stopped. What if she couldn't see any of _'Temari'_ in the reflection? What if they had done something horrible to her face during one of the experiments? What if she didn't even recognize herself because she had changed so much or was horribly disfigured?

She straightened her shoulders determinedly, lifting her chin as she told herself that this would be a test. If she could look in that mirror and accept the stranger she would see in it, then she could go out and say something to her children. She would look. She would be victorious.

Raising a trembling hand, she looked into her reflection and found herself staring.

Blond hair tumbled messily around her face, reminding her about why she had always pulled it up. Green eyes, while they were shadowed, were so achingly familiar that she had to force herself to look away. Her skin was pulled tight across her face, but she knew that if she ate some actual food that she would fill out quick enough and then she'd be able to see _her_ again. Her face held the strain from years of terror and pain so that the creases at the corners of her eyes weren't from laughter, but her skin was surprisingly smooth.

Temari stared at her reflection, finding herself fascinated by the wonder that filled her at the knowledge that they hadn't truly turned her into an animal or a monster, so happy that she could actually see herself and not a stranger that the devils had created.

"Is it okay?" Ino questioned, worrying her lip as the other woman continued to just stare silently at herself.

Temari knew that she was asking about the hair but she couldn't help but answer for everything. "Yes. It will be."

* * *

After Ino had gone, promising to come back in a couple of days after she had rested to see how she was doing, Temari stood up and wandered the room. Her's and Shikamaru's room.

He hadn't changed much, that lazy bastard, so it was still pretty much as she had remembered it. The same dark walls and warm wood floor, the same king sized bed that they had spent hours arguing about when they had first went to buy it. The curtains were even the same, evident from the small stain at the corner that was unnoticeable unless you knew it was there.

But her collection of fans that had hung on the wall was gone, the extra blanket that she had kept thrown over the foot-board for when she got cold during the night gone as well. Opening the little walk in closet she saw that her half was empty but for her favorite black and red flannel robe. Taking it off of its hanger Temari could smell the years that lay on it, and thankfully no foreign female perfume.

She tugged off the restricting clothes the hospital had gotten for her and threw them to the ground, slipping the soft robe on, nearly weeping at how familiar and comforting it was. Standing in the middle of the room Temari rubbed the material between her fingers, her lips curving into a small smile as she remembered back to her old life. And when Shikamaru walked in after sending the kids back to Ino's for the night that was how he found her, a smile on her face wrapped in the robe he had gotten her so many many years ago.

For just a moment it was like he had gone back in time to before she had been taken from him. It would have been a night like any other night as the kids slept over in their room, him coming home from another greatly hated late night at work. She would have waited up for them, though she would have had some handy excuse for being up so late ready. He would have walked over to her to wrap his arms around her from behind, holding onto her as they said their hellos, his face buried into the familiar curve where her shoulder met her neck. He had always loved that spot.

"Why did you keep this?" She asked quietly, slipping her hands into the pockets and turning so that she could look at him directly. He blinked as he was jerked out of his musings, shrugging his shoulders as he went over to sit on his side of the bed, watching her as he did so.

"I kept all of it, but I kept that one out because..." He couldn't say it was because it smelled like her or that it reminded him of her the most, that whenever he had missed her the most he had just had to open that closet door to find that little piece of her. What if she thought that it was pathetic or weird? "Just because."

She nodded and silently sat down on her side of bed, her stiff back turned to him as she stared almost hopelessly at the wall. Shikamaru's shoulders slumped slightly and he stood up, going around the bed and to the door.

"I'll sleep down on the couch, you can stay up here." He looked back and saw her, saw how fragile she looked. He wanted to run back and hold her as closely and tightly as possible, sleeping with her in his arms as he finally and truly confirmed that she was back with him where she belonged. But she wasn't ready, not yet. He smiled slightly at her and nodded to her, closing the door softly behind him as he went.

"Sweet dreams." He wished her as he left.

* * *

Temari gasped as she shot straight up out of the viciously horrifying nightmare into bed, clutching the soft covers desperately as she tried to contain her screams of terror. She scrambled to turn the knob on the lamp beside her, her breathing labored and erratic as she fought to bring light into the room and into her dreams.

Now that she had been outside, now that she had come back and had seen how beautifully bright everything was, she never wanted to go back to the darkness, especially the terror and whisper filled darkness that surrounded her in her dreams.

She trembled as the light filled the room, resting her forehead against her up-drawn knees as she slowly rocked back and forth, trying to calm her jitters.

She thought about going downstairs and asking Shikamaru to come up, to be beside her and protect her from the night terrors but she dismissed the thoughts soon after they had appeared.

She needed to become strong again, she needed to get so that she wouldn't be a burden to anyone and could be independent. She needed to get past the dreams and focus on the future she couldn't quite clearly see, though she knew a few things.

One- She wanted to be with her husband.

Two- She wanted to be back with her children.

Three- She'd figure out just who this Maria woman was and what she wanted with her family.

Four- She'd manage to find the happiness she had lost.

Settling back under the covers she stared at the wall until the sun rose, determined to find a way to defeat her demons all on her own.

* * *

Days later after everyone had returned home, Temari was eating her meal up in her room, by herself, as usual. She had tried to eat downstairs with everyone else but they had sat in such a thick awkwardness that Temari's teeth hurt just thinking about it. So finally, fed up with and hurting from how she was affecting her own family, Temari had told the three that she would simply start eating her food up in her room to save them all the effort of trying.

It was lonely, but she was fine. After all, she had been through worse in the past years. Much worse.

She was flipping through one of the books she had found lying around the house when there was a light knock on the door, Asuma poking his head in the room before she could decide whether or not she wanted the burden of trying to entertain company just yet.

"Can I come in?" He asked quietly, Temari immediately setting aside the book and nodding, motioning for him to come in.

"Of course, what is it?" He silently came over and sat on the edge of the bed next to her, his forehead scrunching up as he thought something over. It smoothed out as he smiled, his wide and kind green eyes looking at her, soothing her soul.

"You smell the same." He murmured.

Temari leaned back a bit, studying his face to make sure that she had heard him correctly. "What?"

He blushed as if just realizing what he had said and shrugged his shoulders, looking down at the sheets as if they are suddenly fascinating. "How you... smell. It's one of the few things I actually remember about you and it's the same as I remember."

"Ah..." Temari blinked, looking down at herself as if she could see the smell if she looked hard enough. "It's just soap." He shrugged his shoulders and smiled at her, managing to make all of her defenses simply melt. Oh, she had missed that smile.

"Tell me about yourself." Temari suddenly demanded, leaning back against the head-board as she watched him, waiting. "Tell me everything. Silly stories, happy memories. Facts, statistics, moods. Everything and anything." He nodded and then scooted back so that they were both leaning against the head-board.

"Well, my best friend is Ringo and my favorite color is maroon. I like playing shoji and watching the clouds," Temari stopped herself from rolling her eyes. God, he had been turned into a mini Shikamaru. "I'm going to graduate top of my class, and I'm good with the shadow manipulations -though not as good as Kyoko, but that's only because she's older. I..." Temari smiled slightly and just watched him talk, listening to the soothing rise and fall of his voice as he spoke about everything that came to his mind.

He was beautiful. The way his face -though it usually stayed stoic like his father's usually did- shifted slightly with every change of emotion. The way there was a slight shift in his eyes when he talked about Ringo and told stories about Ringo. The way he smiled -just the tiniest curve of his lips- when he told a story he found funny. As she watched him she saw the pieces of him that she remembered, the little bits of that two year old boy that she had loved so deeply.

She wanted to hear him laugh, wanted to feel that depth of happiness that came from that sweet sound again. She wondered if his eyes still scrunched up closed when he did, if it was still the same deep belly laughs that just rolled uncontrollably out of him as his face lit up from his mirth.

"Are you going to leave again?" Temari blinked and then quickly shook her head. "No, no I won't. I can't even think about leaving any of you again." Never. Never again would she be taken away from her babies. He nodded and slowly, hesitantly, he slipped his arms around her waist and leaned his head against her shoulder. She froze for the barest moment before winding her own arms around him, clinging as she breathed past the tears.

He no longer smelled of powder and no-tear shampoo. She could smell the tiniest hint of his deodorant and... good God, her baby was wearing cologne. Those years she had missed suddenly slapped her in the face and made her tighten her hold.

"You're really skinny." He muttered, burying his face into her throat. His hair tickled her nose and his breath was hot and moist against her skin, but she ignored those tiny discomforts and held onto him, laughing weakly.

"Yeah, sorry. I'll get to work on that." She murmured, closing her eyes as she let his warmth seep into her and soothe her chilled soul.

A throat was impolitely cleared and they looked up to see Kyoko standing in the doorway, hip cocked and eyes hard. "Asuma, if you want to practice with me you better hurry up. I don't have all day." Asuma nodded and reluctantly slipped out of Temari's hold, scooting off of the bed and walking past his sister and out the door. Said sister watched the woman that sat on the bed with stern eyes, turning on her heel and leaving without a backwards glance.

It was like those eyes had just skewered her heart and put it out to roast over a pit. Taking a trembling breath Temari wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes as she tried to maintain her control. It would take more than sweet words to win her daughter back, she had known that the first time she had seen her, but God, it hurt to look into those eyes.

But she had gotten her son back and she could get Kyoko back too. It would just take a little time.

* * *

She was really getting tired of the nightmares.

The psychologist she had been seeing had tried to get her to talk about it, and she had, but talking just hadn't helped. The woman had suggested that she try talking to Shikamaru but it was... hard. If she let him into that part of her, the darkest and most twistedly deformed part of her, would he be able to accept her? He did, after all, have that other woman waiting for him. What if he decided that she was the better bet?

She roughly rubbed her hands over her face as she swung her legs over the side of the bed, her bare feet pressing into the cool wood of the floor.

She hated that she was still trapped by the fear that she should have been free from as soon as they had taken her out of that cell. What was there to be afraid of here? She wouldn't ever go back, she knew that, so why did she have to have nightmares?

Grabbing her pillow off of the bed she stepped quietly out of the room and walked down the stairs, her footsteps silent on the wood as she made her way into the living room to find her husband.

He was sitting on the couch, blankets shoved down on the ground and the pillow forgotten as he leaned over some of the paperwork he had had sent to the house so that he could stay at home in case Temari needed him. She knew that he knew she was there, but he was waiting for her to make the first move, waiting for her to say something that would give a hint as to how the conversation would go.

"How many times did you sleep with her?" She whispered as she stared at his back. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, and Temari knew that she probably should have started with something else. But this was what she wanted to know, what she needed to know. Even if asking made her feel like a petty and jealous child.

"Five times." She blinked. That was a _lot _less than she had thought. According to the pictures and the little bit she had been able to get from Asuma the woman had been around for years, and the pictures all showed that she had always felt something towards him.

"I won't say I'm sorry that it happened because that would be insulting for everyone involved and would belittle herfeelings and mine. But it hurts you, and I am sorry for that." Temari sighed and stared down at the pillow, picking at a loose thread as she became so utterly and undeniably tired.

"No. It isn't that it hurts me, but that I... I'm..." She muttered the last little bit under her breath and Shikamaru turned to her, watching her as she fidgeted. "You're what?"

"Jealous." She said as quietly as she could.

"What was that again?" He asked, and she damn well knew that he had heard her.

"Jealous, okay? I'm jealous. And don't go around expecting to hear that again." Shikamaru's lip twitched up in a smirk. God, he had missed her, missed what they had had together.

"It's just that... all those years I missed, all those pictures that I'll never get to be in, she's in all of them. She's been here to see the kids grow up, to help Kyoko and Asuma when they needed it. She was here for you too, and it kills me to know that she got all of that and I didn't." She looked up at him, her eyes so achingly sad. "But I don't hate you or want you to apologize for having her. I understand that you tried to move on and why. It was ten years after all, it's not like I expected you to take a vow of chastity and never look at another woman."

"That's the thing," He said quietly, meeting her heartbroken eyes with his own. "I never did."

"What does that mean?"

"That I could never look at anyone else. It was always only you." She sniffled a little bit and clutched the pillow tighter, looking away from him and to the wall.

"That's kind of pitiful."

"Yeah, I know."

Her eyes flicked back over to him and she bit her lip, hesitating over what she was about to do next. She slowly held out one of her hands to him, the other arm continuing to hold the security of the pillow close.

"Will you come up and sleep with me?" She asked, offering him the opening he had been waiting for.

He knew that she only meant sleep and that she wasn't ready for sex yet, but he didn't want that. He would wait for years if he had to if it meant he would be able to get his wife back.

He stood up, turned off the light, and walked to her, taking her hand in his as they walked up the stairs side by side. They closed the bedroom door behind them quietly as they went to their respective sides of the bed, both of them easily hiding how much this meant to them.

Settling back into the pillows Shikamaru was reaching out to turn off the light when she grabbed his wrist to stop him. "Wait, can we leave it on?" He looked at her to find her staring down at the bed sheets, her shoulders slumped in defeat. "I have nightmares." She quietly admitted, and Shikamaru felt his heart break for her, though it never showed on his face.

Cursing the bastards who had hurt her he settled back under the covers, leaving the light shining. Temari was about to settle back as well, so eager to sleep beside him again after so long apart, but a sudden and terrible thought made its way through her mind and gave her pause. And, as if he had the ability to see her thoughts, Shikamaru answered her unasked worry.

"It was never in here, Temari. I would never do anything like that in our room or in our bed." _Our room. _It was amazing how easily such simple words could soothe her. _Our room. Our bed._

She slipped back under the covers, holding her breath to see what would happen. Neither of them had ever really been cuddlers, though they did usually end up against each other during the night. But Temari wanted to touch him, to have some contact with him so that she could be soothed. But was she ready for that? She still stiffened up every time Asuma went for a hug even though she loved each and every embrace.

Understanding perfectly and accepting it all, Shikamaru merely turned on his side facing her and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together and setting their joined hands on the space between them.

"Go to sleep." He muttered, easing into the comfort of the bed -that sofa was damned uncomfortable- and his wife.

And with a smile on her face she complied, sure that her nightmares wouldn't be back that night.

* * *

Shikamaru had started going back into work, only leaving when Temari had thrown a bowl of grapes at his face and had threatened to gut him if he coddled her any more, saying that now that she was back to her normal self -not all the way, obviously, since she normally would never have left it at a threat and a flimsy assault- he could leave her alone in the house.

And Temari found herself happy again, settling back into the warmth of having her family back. Well, her family but for Kyoko, and she was sure that whatever all of that was would be resolved soon. They just needed time.

Pushing those thoughts out of her head Temari instead focused on happier thoughts, like the fact that she was finally over the ninety-five pound mark on the scale. Looking down she could no longer see her ribs protruding or her hip bones, though she was nowhere near finished gaining weight. Of course, the weight she would be gaining from there on out would be muscle weight since she was going to start training again, even if it meant starting from scratch. She absolutely loathed being weak.

Pulling her hair back into a high pony-tail Temari stepped out of the bathroom, going over to the closet. She had been wearing the clothes Ino had gotten for her and then Shikamaru's shirts to sleep in, but she was kind of tired of wearing the comfortable and stretchy drawstring clothes that were meant to be worn until she finished gaining weight. She remembered Shikamaru saying that he had put all of her old clothes in a box at the back of the closet, so she decided to go through them and put on some of her own clothes.

Because she missed her clothes.

The first box she opened smelled stale from the years of not being opened, so she knew that she'd have to wash all of them. But she didn't mind it because as soon as she saw what was in it she was simply filled with joy. There was her favorite t-shirt and then her favorite old pair of jeans. Her kimonos, her shorts, tank tops and then her mission wear. It was all there, neatly folded with care.

Temari wondered, briefly, how much this must have hurt Shikamaru to just try and pack her away like this.

In another box she found her pajama sets, nightgowns and underwear, though she didn't mess with this box all that much but for the underwear since she was happy with just wearing Shikamaru's shirts to sleep. It was comforting.

The third box was what held her attention the most, though. Her fan collection, the one little whimsical thing she had kept at since her child hood, all neatly and carefully packed away. She picked the topmost one up, opening it with a flick of her wrist and breathing out a happy and relieved sigh. She had forgotten how much she had missed her fan.

"What are you doing?" Temari's head snapped up and her smile slipped off of her face as she looked up at Kyoko. The girl was standing in the doorway, eyebrows brought together by confusion as she took in the boxes and clothes scattered about the floor to her father's room.

"Ah, going through the boxes of all of my things." Kyoko nodded and then turned around, about to leave without another word. "Um!" Temari started, making the girl pause. "Do you want to help?" Temari winced at the suggestion, wishing she could take it back, not ready to hear the girl's rejection actually put into words. But all she wanted was to spend a little time with her, to get to know the young lady her little girl had become.

"Sure." She said, turning back and sitting on the other side of the box that her shocked mother had open, staring at her impatiently. "Well, what's in this one?" Temari blinked, brought back to the real world with a jarring thud by the girl's voice.

"My fans." Temari said as she gently picked another one up, her voice reverent.

"I thought you fought with a big one." She said, picking up one of the fragile things as she eyed it doubtfully.

"I did. But I collected fans of all types since I was little. Some of these are for looks and some are for combat, and- Wait! No, you open it like this," She said, demonstrating. "You can't be rough with these because they're very delicate."

"They're kind of worthless if you can't use them then, huh?" Kyoko said, setting the fan she had been holding back in the box. Temari shook her head, a wistful smile on her face.

"That's not what you said when you were little. In fact this one was your favorite." She said, picking up a red silk fan with flowers painted on the delicate cloth and the wood painted black, a black tassel dangling down with a large red glass bead decorating it just before the knot.

"You would always come in here and try to get it off of the wall, climbing up shelves or other things like that because you thought it was just so pretty. I didn't know if you were going to tear up my collection or your head." She laughed softly as she remembered, holding the fan in her hands as if it were a priceless treasure. "Eventually we had to start locking the door to out room so you wouldn't get hurt or break anything."

She smiled gently down at the fan and then up into the dark eyes of her daughter. And then she held out the treasure, a peace offering. "Here. You can have it."

"I-I can't I-" Temari shook her head at the girl's protest, placing the fan into the girl's hand and folding her fingers around it, her touch just as soft as her smile.

"I had actually planned on giving it to you when you graduated from the academy, but I guess that didn't really work out," Her smile turned unbearably sad and the shadows in her eyes shifted as she looked away from Kyoko and into the past she had missed. "Did it?"

Shaking her head at the depression that threatened to fill her, Temari turned back to the box and picked up another one of the fans, calming down as the silk, paper, ivory and wood soothed her.

"You left." Kyoko whispered, staring down at the closed fan in her hand.

"What was that?" Temari asked, looking up at her.

"You left!" She shouted, making the other woman jerk back from her fury. "You just left me and didn't even look back! How could you do something like that? You're my _mother_! You're not supposed to just leave your children like that! And... And then you just come back here and expect us to act like nothing happened." Tears were streaming down her face and she was wiping at them though it was useless because they just continued to fall.

"I mean, we were happy. We really were! We... Maria was going to take us to the hot springs and we were... We were happy! And now you're here and..." She hiccupped. "You're making it... different. Better. Dad is happier and Asuma is too and... I thought we were happy before but we weren't and it's all because you left and now you're back and it... it's better. But... why did you leave me?"

"Kyoko." Temari breathed, reaching out for the girl to only have her slap the hand away.

"And I can't even be mad at you! I mean, it was your job and it wasn't like you knew it was going to happen or went willingly." She sniffed loudly and tried to rub her red eyes dry.

"I didn't. I would never have gone had I know that any of that would happen. I never wanted to leave you -_ever_. The three of you mean the world to me and every day I died a little because I couldn't get back to you. I love you, Kyoko, I love you so much that it hurt to keep loving you. You need to believe me. Please, believe me."

Tears were slowly making their way down her face as she stared at the blurred form of her daughter. If she could have she would have went down to her knees and begged for forgiveness, prayed for it -the first prayer she would have spoken in years since she had believed god to be deaf in the hell she had lived in.

"I... I do. Believe you, that is. And I understand why you left. If I were in your shoes I would have done the same thing." She sniffled and looked down at her hands fisted around the fan. She slowly uncurled each of her fingers one by one, smoothing the wood with one of her fingers.

"Because that's what ninjas do. We go and do our jobs even though there's a chance we won't come back." She looked back up at Temari and smiled the tiniest smile, though the effect was ruined by her puffy eyes and blotchy skin.

"Promise you won't leave us again. I don't think any of us could take it if you left us again." Temari nodded.

"Of course. Never. I'll never leave you. I'll swear this a thousand times on a thousand different graves if I have to because I mean it more than I've ever meant anything ever before in my life." Kyoko nodded and then was quick to lean forward and wrap her arms around her waist, squeezing hard as she buried her face into her chest, her breath shuddering out as her entire body relaxed. It was like she remembered from when she was a child- warm and smelling of her soap, her arms wrapping around her to return the hug enveloping her in a complete sense of comfort.

She leaned back and rubbed at her nose again, staring down at the box as an embarrassed and pleased blush spread on her cheeks. "Um... can we keep on going through the fans?"

"Of course."

"And do you think that you can actually show me how to fight with the fans? You know, since I know how Dad fights I figure it might be nice to know how you fought." Temari blinked and then smiled, feeling a shaft of pride and love pierce her heart.

"I'd enjoy nothing more."

"Thanks..." She cleared her throat, "Mom."

Temari smiled tearfully and scooted closer to the box, going over memories long thought to be forgotten. She had missed being called Mom.

* * *

"She called me mom." Temari murmured later that night as she and Shikamaru were getting ready for bed.

"Who?"

"Kyoko. She called me _mom_." She smiled as she sat on the side of the bed, turning so that she could look down at Shikamaru since he was already lying down. "We were going through the box of my fans and she called me mom. I missed that. I missed being a mom."

"And we missed you." He murmured. They watched each other for a bit, both uncertain of the next move. Temari knew what she _wanted _to do, she just wasn't sure if she was ready. But looking at him and feeling the tug she had only ever hoped to feel again, Temari knew she would have to try. She just wasn't sure if she could take any more of the hesitancy between them anymore.

And so she closed her eyes, took a leap of faith, and leaned in.

It was a smooth kiss, one that was nowhere near as heated as the ones they had shared in the past. It wasn't hesitant, but it was timid, both searching for how far the other was willing to go. Finding their answers they both pressed a little harder, their heads tilting as the air around them became hotter.

They didn't hurry, they didn't rush. They savored the moment, that final blessed moment that they were together again, and with their kisses they promised to never again be forced apart.

They only broke the kiss so that they could tug their shirts off, their lips immediately coming back to each other as if drawn by a magnetic force. Their gentle touches lingered, neither wanting to hurry or break the fragile moment that was building between them.

Shikamaru rolled so that he was on top, pausing a moment to give her the choice to break free. But she was fine, she wasn't scared. She was too warm, too lightheaded, too tingly to ever be scared of anything ever again. And so she reached up and brought him back down to her, running her fingers through his hair like she had been wanting to do again for so unbearably long.

His kisses trailed down her throat and to her chest, coming back up to kiss her on the lips every few minutes as if he couldn't bear to forget the taste of her. He stayed at her breasts for achingly long moments as she panted, trying to remember how to breathe through the feelings that were rushing through her body and threatening to overwhelm her.

He came back up to kiss her again, catching her breathy gasps in his own mouth before he went on his downward path once more, this time passing her breasts and continuing downward until he was met with the very core of her heat. Parting her legs and tugging her underwear down, he pressed his mouth to her and made the stars that filled her vision explode.

Temari's back arched as one of her hands was tossed up above her head, the other fisting in the sheets beneath her as colorful and wonderful spots filled her eyes. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but feel every blessed thing he was doing to her. And she certainly wasn't going to fight it, especially not when once her thought processes got back up and running she would only end up worrying about all of the scars that littered her body.

She had had scars when their relationship had first started -obviously, since she was a ninja that had seen combat and had been wounded- and neither had ever worried about them. They came with the job and they were wounds that you could feel pride in because you knew that you had gotten them protecting your village. But these scars, these scars were ugly.

They practically dripped with the poison from her years of imprisonment and they were so viciously and glaringly hideous and evil that Temari still hadn't been able to look at all of her reflection in the mirror yet. What would Shikamaru think and say, especially since he could clearly remember her as she had been?

Why did she have to have the light on? Why did she have to be such a goddamn coward?

As if he heard her thoughts and felt her pain Shikamaru started back up, pausing at each and every scar on her body to trail kisses along the angry lines, almost reverent in the way he soothingly traced them, continuing up the trail until he was once more at her lips, kissing her deeply and reassuringly as she felt tears prick the corners of her eyes.

When he entered her she couldn't hold back her gasping cry, arching up to meet him as she tried to remind herself that there were children in the house that could hear them -children old enough to understand what the noises meant.

Their bodies moved together as if there had never been a moment of separation, both of them two halves of a whole that was finally back together and whole again. The years flew easily away, every scar and blemish and wound -both visible and not- fading in the growing heat.

And when they exploded together she couldn't help the handful of tears that rolled out of her eyes at how wonderfully and perfectly whole she finally felt after so many years of being broken. He brushed the tears off of her face as he told her things she couldn't hear past the emotions that were racing furiously though her body and creating a roaring in her ears.

"I love you." She choked out, burying her face into his throat. "I love you." She repeated, needing to say it as many times as possible, needing to let him know in case something dared to break them apart again. Needing him to understand.

"And I love you." He told her, rolling over so they were on their sides, holding her until they both finally succumbed to sleep, even though they still wanted a few moments more of being in each other's arms.

* * *

She had her son back. She had her daughter back. She had her husband, their marriage and their sex life, back. She had her family and everything was as it was supposed to be. But there was one niggling detail, one loose end that Temari just didn't know what to do with.

Maria.

And so that was how she found herself on the neighboring porch holding her breath as she knocked on the door, hoping that she wasn't doing something incredibly stupid.

The woman that answered was just like in the pictures, though as soon as she saw Temari her face seemed to age a good five years. And they weren't very kind years.

"Hello." Temari greeted her, unsure of what to do now that she was here and the door had been answered. The woman smiled weakly and nodded at her.

"Hello... won't you come in?" Temari nodded and stepped by her, able to breathe now that she was inside. The house wasn't really anything special, just a reflection of theirs, but it was decorated warmly and with a lot of thought whereas her house was filled with a lot of '_who cares?'_ and _'oh, I guess that looks okays'._

"Ah," Temari started, turning around with a clear thought in mind until she actually faced the woman, finding herself suddenly tongue tied by eyes that clearly seemed to understand the whole situation.

"I just want to say that I won't interfere with your marriage or try to do anything to the children or Shikamaru that would come across as me trying to get them to choose me over you. I'm not that kind of person. But I _do_ want to say that I will remain in Kyoko and Asuma's lives. I love them too much and I believe that I mean too much to them to even think about tearing myself away from them." She nodded as if satisfied by her little report. "There. That's all, so you can start on me about being a home wrecker and trying to take your man away now."

"Thank you." Maria blinked, her body visibly deflating in her confusion.

"What was that?"

"Thank you. Thank you for taking care of my family, of loving them when I wasn't here to do so. Thank you for meaning so much to them after I had left them with so little. Thank you."

"Um..." Maria was looking down at the floor, trying to figure out what she should say to that. What she _could _say to that. There she had been, expecting a fight from a jealous and scary as hell ninja lady and instead she got this woman who had a cracked look in her eye and was humbly bowing her head. Thanking her. "I... I didn't do it to be thanked."

"No." Temari agreed quietly, looking back up at her, "You did it because you love them."

How could she even think to be mad at this woman? And it wasn't like she had ever thought she had had a chance to compete with her anyway. She had always known by the look in Shikamaru's eye and by the way that he sometimes touched her that he had gone far away, that he was out there searching for her because there was no way he could be complete without his wife.

Not her. Never her.

They had each other again and their family -their happiness- was complete. Who was she to even think of interfering, especially when the only possible outcome was far more heartbreak than she could ever stand.

"I, ah... I have photo albums of the kids from over the years. You probably haven't gotten a whole lot from all of them about what really went on with them and... Would you like me to go get them for you?" Temari wanted to reach out to the woman and soothe the broken expression on her face, wanted to tell her that it would all be fine. That everything would be fine. But who was she to promise that?

"I would, if it isn't too much trouble. Thank you." She answered, watching the other woman walk away and determining that she would never show her pity. She had done far too much for her family, meant far too much to them to ever even consider belittling her in such a way.

When Maria handed Temari the book they could see the symbolism of the moment, both of them lingering over it and promising each other unbreakable promises. That they wouldn't live to regret it. That they would never look back at the other with pity or shame. That they would never -no matter the circumstances- regret the love they felt for their three most important people.

"Thank you." Temari said again, clutching the albums to her chest as she turned and walked out of the house.

Maria could only hope that she wouldn't look back because there was no way she was going to be able to hold the tears back until the door closed.

She wanted to rant and rave, to beg God to know if this was really his plan. If he really cared for her as everyone said he did. If so, why did it have to hurt? If he truly loved her why did he have to rip her heart out of her chest and then shatter it in the palm of his hand? Why did it have to hurt so terribly, horribly, torturously?

Why was it that she was left alone with her love long forgotten?

Sliding down the wall she was leaning on she sat in a crumpled heap on the floor, burning hot tears and tortured sobs ripped from her as she mourned for the dream she could never have. And prepared to build herself up once again.

Never knowing about the tears that were shed for her on the other side of the door.

* * *

Okay, see, I'm just going to leave it here.

Why? Because this is where I feel like it has ended. Maria does move on and she will continue to be in the kids' lives, and eventually she falls in love again and is happy.

And I felt kind of bad as I was writing this because I made Temari kind of weepy when I think of her as more of a badass, but hey, after ten years of mental and physical torture I think we'd all get a little teary eyed. But never fear, she gets her badassery back.

And to Ninquelot, sorry! I refer to all of my readers with odd nicknames (sweet babies, precious darlings), but I'll make sure to call you something a little more grown up. And about calling you a he, I only did that because I figured it would be better to just stick with it instead of guessing. But hey, congrats on the kids. That's fabulous (and here's hoping you got this somewhere else than work, cause I don't want you to get in trouble)

I will be back soon, but I might just have to take a tiny break (a day or so). This chapter was actually twice as long as my longest one before now and I still need to finish the hell that is _Pride and Prejudice. _But hey, I have way too many ideas and too much love for you all to stay gone for long.

Kisses!


	47. With Old Age, KakaSaku

Just an idea I had when I was thinking about how Sakura got pregnant in _A Plan in Motion_ and I just figured that I couldn't let her _never _know about the switching pill trickery. So... This popped up.

* * *

No one paid much mind to the elderly woman as she made her way down a familiar street, their gazes passing over her in the way gazes do when they don't want to bother with something uninteresting. Some shop owners waved to her as she passed by but she merely nodded her head to them, passing up on the conversation that such a simple greeting would have led to in favor of continuing on to her destination.

Some questioned it -after all, she was never so rude usually- until one of them noticed the bag in her hands and remembered the date, and then the whispers flew quickly from stall to stall.

The woman ignored them as she quietly walked the path to the cemetery.

Once there she made her way over to a familiar grave and was pleased to find that she had gotten there before anyone else. She knelt down to the ground slowly, her thin and weathered hands going to work on the weeds that grew out of the ground, tossing them aside along with the little bits of litter she found. Once done with that she shook out her hands, cursing the arthritis that was sure to feel worse in a few years time, but for now they were well enough to go on with the rest of her annual ritual.

Out of the bag she carried with her she pulled out a thin branch, laying it across the bottom of the headstone as her lips twitched. Not many would understand it but there were those who recognized the symbolism and who would find the slight bit of humor in the fact that after years of staying hidden in the trees and disappearing in a swirl of leaves he could still remain as such.

And after all, Kakashi had never really been one for flowers.

Sakura, her steel gray hair pulled back in a bun, her spine slumping slightly from the weight of the years and her skin wrinkled and aged, bent her head for the slightest bit in a moment of silence and then she shook off the melancholy mood and sat back, smiling softly and tucking a strand of hair that got tugged by the wind behind her ear.

"Well, another year, huh? God... Well, Jiro is doing great at the hospital and with the medic-nin training program. Do you know that he's finally got it so that every student at the academy goes through basic medic training before they graduate? It's a great idea and I'm surprised no one thought of it before him. Though," She chuckled, "I suppose that you're don't really care all too terribly about all of that. But the kids are great. It's kind of funny to watch them struggle with their own kids, and when they complain I can shove it in their faces how bad _they _were. But they're great kids, they really are."

"Cora is so... lazy. God, sometimes I think that you must have written down all of those terrible excuses of yours somewhere and then she found it. The other day she actually had the nerve to be three hours late to a meeting and then excuse herself by saying that it was because she got caught up drying every individual strand of her hair and then lost track of time." She laughed deeply, just like she had when she had first heard about it. "And Aki... that girl is incredible. She's trying as hard as she can to get your chidori down and she's nearly got it, though she did end up accidentally blowing a hole in her wall. Her mother, good God, I though she was going to destroy her, especially since she knew better than to practice inside. And did you know that Tohru wants to be a lawyer? She told me herself. Can you believe that? She's looking into schools and everything. And Hiro..." She smiled softly. "He has your smile. He'll be breaking hearts right and left if we don't get him a mask."

She chuckled again, her laughter leading off and ending with a sigh.

"I miss you." She murmured, lightly brushing her fingers over the engraving of his name.

"Hey," She said, shaking off the sad mood again, wry amusement filling her tone now. "You know what I found when I was going through some boxes? Your old collection of _Icha Icha._" She chuckled again as she pulled out the book, fancying that the sudden increase in the wind might have been Kakashi's spirit listening to her.

"Yeah, I figured that would get you excited, you old pervert. Well, you'll never guess what happened when I started flipping through. I'm just going along, just reminiscing, and then a paper falls out. A letter you wrote to me, apparently." She glared at the slab of stone before her. "And what the hell did you think you were doing putting something like that in your porn books, huh?" She slipped the letter out from under the cover of the book and looked down at the final message her husband had left her and then hidden.

"What kind of letter is this anyway? I mean, _'Yo, Sakura, I figured that if you found this in here your either poking through my stuff because you're bored or because I'm dead. If it's the first one, I'm going to be pretty annoyed but if it's the second then I guess I'll still be annoyed because it means I'm dead.'_" She snorted. "Who starts a letter out this way? Especially when it's for your beloved wife after you _died_?"

"Oh, and I really liked all of the confessions. _Especially _the one where you switched out my birth control to purposely get me pregnant because you were tired of me being afraid of a serious commitment with you." Her glare got hotter and her tone got darker as she pinned the headstone down with a piercing look as if it were the flesh and blood man.

"Oh, that just got me pleased as punch. I mean, what the _hell _Kakashi? What was going through your mind at that time to think _'Oh, the only solution to this is to obviously and purposely get my lover pregnant and not tell her that I took the choice away'_?! Didn't you think that maybe, just maybe, I wanted to have a choice in that? Didn't you think about how badly that would have screwed up our lives? And it did! I wasn't ready to be a Mom and I knew that, which is why we never talked about any of that stuff before! I wasn't ready and you just forced me into it all!" She was shouting now, the passerbys edging carefully around her as they eyed her like the senile old woman they believed her to be. And then she slumped, closing her eyes and rubbing at the throbbing that lay directly in the center of her forehead.

And she sighed, her whole body relaxing as the anger flowed out of her as if someone had turned a tap. She smiled just the littlest bit, keeping her eyes closed as she thought back, remembering everything.

"But it was great, wasn't it? And you were ready, you really were, and with you beside me I guess I caught up pretty quickly. God, you made me so happy and in the end I was actually relieved that it happened like that because we both know that I would never have been ready without that push. And the way it all happened, the way everything turned out in the end, just showed me that I loved you so much more than I had thought possible." She smiled warmly at the headstone.

"You bastard." She murmured, looking down at the old and slightly crinkled photo she held in her hands. It was the only photo of Kakashi unmasked that existed, and the only reason it did was because she had had to do some major bribing for it to happen. He was glaring at the camera grumpily, arms crossed over his chest as he looked sternly into the lens, obviously unhappy that the picture was even happening. But there was the slightest of smiles ghosting around his mouth on his smoothly handsome and astonishingly young face. She loved that face.

For years after she had taken it he had tried to steal it and dispose of it but she had guarded the thing with such a ferocity that he had eventually just let her keep it, warning her that she had to keep it to herself on the threat of death or worse. And she had kept that promise, selfishly not even showing it to the kids, desperate to keep this one piece of him solely hers for as long as she could.

Bringing her secret treasure up to her lips she pressed a kiss to the once glossy surface, closing her eyes against the waves of grief and sorrow and pain, breathing past it all as she reminded herself that she was no where near the crybaby she had been in her younger years. She had children and grandchildren, and then maybe someday soon great-grandchildren.

She had a few years before she left to meet up Kakashi again to beat the hell out of him for leaving her too soon, so she knew she wouldn't spend those years bitterly crying for someone who would scorn her for doing so. No, she'd live and get enough stories to amuse him to no end when they met up again and to show him that she had lived a full and happy life.

Standing up on legs that weren't as strong as they used to be Sakura sat her hand on top of the cold stone that only said the name of her husband and a simple _'We love you'_, letting her hand linger until it had warmed to her touch and then she turned and walked back down the path she had come from.

* * *

Okay, let's all remember that Kakashi is fourteen years older than Sakura, and I would say that she's in her seventies here. And no, I'm not telling you which grandkid belong to which parent because I'm never going into the grandkids or anything like that (truthfully I just made them all up for this story).

And I said that Kakashi would take the switching pill thing to his grave, and so he did! (Bad joke! Bad LadyArinn!)

And to everyone who gave me such lovely comments about the last three chapters, Thank you! If I could, I'd make you five doughnuts twisted together like the Olympic rings in their respective colors and then give them to you for free (a woman at Dunkin' Doughnuts Actually did this)

I love you all!


	48. Coming Clean, KakaSaku

Okay then, this one here is for my sweet little Ninquelot who said, many many weeks ago (sorry for the wait!),

**"...write about how people have react when they found out about kakasaku. Like betting if they would last or threatening Kakashi if is playing with Sakura..."**

And also for my friend Missy who said that there would have had to been a huge blow up after everyone found out about Sakura and Kakashi.

This is right after the events of _'A Plan in Motion'_, so you'd want to read that first if you haven't yet.

* * *

Sakura wished she had a do over day because everything from that day was falling together in a big pile of suckage. Sure, fine, she'd been sleeping with her ex-teacher for the past few years but did _everyone _have to overreact?

First Naruto had ran up to her apartment and had started screaming like a raving lunatic, making all of her neighbors aware that something was going on and that it _had to be _something bad since the the Hokage himself was there. And there they were, thinking that she was such a nice girl.

Then she and Kakashi were dragged to his office, though -as Hinata pointed out as she ushered them there- at least this way they would be able to have some privacy. Or as much privacy as could be had when it seemed like every ninja she had ever known was in there with them.

"Hey," Ino whispered as she slid up to her, "I got everyone here together so that you only have to do this once." Then she smiled brightly and sauntered back in spot giving Kiba a look through her lashes that promised quite a few things that would make _Icha Icha_ proud.

"-So how long has this been going on?!" Oh, Naruto had finished talking. Thank God.

"Um, two years or so." Well, judging by the shade of purple Naruto's face was turning she probably should have fudged that little fact a bit.

"TWO YEARS?! And you never brought it up?!" His hands were placed flat on his desk as he leaned over it, looking for all purposes like he was about to leap over it and dismantle Kakashi as painfully as possible.

"Well, you never asked." Sakura muttered, shrugging since she couldn't think of any other answer to give him. She certainly wasn't telling him that they had been mainly having sex for the past two years.

"Of course I didn't _ask_! Who would think that you were sleeping with our teacher?!" Sakura rolled her eyes, her aggravation at being interrupted with Kakashi and then forced from her apartment and pulled through the streets just to be screamed at rising with every moment she was stuck in the office.

"Ex-teacher. Plus it isn't like he's taught me that much."

"Oh?" She knew that tone and she would not react to that tone in a room filled with her friends, though judging by the tightening in her gut and the rough chuckle that came from Kiba's direction -damn Inuzuka smelling abilities- she failed miserably.

"_No_ you did _NOT_." She said, warning him to tread carefully. _Really_ carefully.

"Well, how have you been going on dates for all this time? Huh? I'm the Hokage, I would have noticed something or been told about this!" He really needed to stop throwing the whole Hokage thing in her face or else she might just have to reshape his attitude with a chakra filled punch aimed at his nose.

"We didn't exactly go out on dates." God, she was going to _kill _Kakashi. Couldn't he just stand there silently and not try to make things worse? She could hope that Naruto's natural denseness would protect him from what Kakashi's words hinted at... but judging by the way his eyes were bugging out of his head, that wasn't going to work out all that well.

"Then what did you do?" Kiba teasingly asked, Ino smothering a giggle with her hand. "I mean, two years is quite a long time to just sit around playing cards." Ino's laughter slipped past her guard and the muscle Naruto's cheek twitched, and Hinata came over to place a soothing hand on his back while she watched on with concern. Good, maybe with her they could control the situation a little better.

"We went on some dates when we were on missions and stuff. We just didn't do much around here because I knew you'd react like this."

"On missions?" Naruto asked, his breath slightly wheezing, "The ones I sent you guys on? This makes me an enabler to your guys! Right?" He asked his wife, and she nodded to confirm that he had chosen the right words. "I mean-" He said, starting on another one of his rants.

"Hey, Kakashi," Kiba sniggered, "What kind of flowers do you want on your grave?"

Kakashi smiled his familiar crinkle-eyed smile at the boy, looking for all purposes perfectly relaxed and at ease in the hostile environment. Hell, he probably was. "None. I'm afraid I'm allergic." Which was a boldface lie, but Sakura didn't feel like pointing that out right at the moment.

"Oh, come on, all funerals have flowers. _Everyone_ puts them on the graves." Ino said, only getting the crinkle-eyed smile in answer to her protest.

"Not mine. Like I said, I'm allergic."

"Kakashi," Sakura sighed, "You'll be dead. I don't really think that it matters."

"But what if my spirit is allergic to them?"

"Why on earth would you haunt your own grave?"

"So I could see who cares about me by not putting flowers on my grave. Because I am, as you know, allergic."

"Fine," She snapped, not in the mood to play word games with him at the moment. "No one will put flowers on your grave. Happy?"

"But you'll still need to put something on it." He said, seeming to be purposely pushing every single one of her buttons. Her eyes blazed as she narrowed them at him, trying as hard as she could to mentally slay him where he stood.

"Then I'll put sticks on it." She growled, Kakashi nodding as if this pleased him. God, she wanted to hurt him so badly. In fact, as soon as they got out of this mess she'd beat him down as hard as she could. And it wasn't like he could do anything to her since she was pregnant.

Well, that thought certainly made her feel marginally better.

"Hey! LISTEN!" Everybody turned back to Naruto, waiting to see what he'd do now. "You!" He shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Kakashi, "What are your intentions towards Sakura-chan?" Sakura's face fell into her palm as she shook her head, cursing the idiot in front of her. His intentions? What time period was this? And did he think he was, her father?

"We're moving in together." Kakashi answered, his relaxed stance unchanging though Sakura could feel the slight pulse of tension flow through his body, unnoticed by everyone but her. He was waiting to see what happened, waiting to see who would make the first move. Sakura felt her body begin to tense in reaction to his but forced the reaction back down, not wanting to bring anyone on alert.

"Is that true?" Naruto asked her and she nodded her head, thankful that the man beside her hadn't stupidly mentioned anything about the pregnancy or his proposal of marriage. If either of those had slipped past his lips Sakura knew that they would have been in serious trouble by either Naruto attempting to kill Kakashi or forcing them to actually get married to each other.

Naruto slumped back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest and grumbling, figuring that he could let it pass since Kakashi was making a commitment to her, though he wouldn't be happy about it. Hinata, sensing that her husband had finally calmed down, smiled gently at the couple. True, the coupling didn't make much sense to her and it was a little strange for her to think about the whole ex-teacher/student aspect of it, but they looked happy. And that happiness, she was hoping to get Naruto to see, was good.

"When are you two moving in together?" She asked and Kakashi shrugged, Sakura's eyes rolling as she sensed his reply.

"Soon."

Sakura huffed and crossed her arms over her chest as she waited for the questions their friends were asking them to get over with, though it seemed to be taking forever, each moment dragging on since she was hungry. And thinking about how hungry she was reminded her about the fried chicken she had left in the kitchen, but she just didn't want to bother with it. She'd give it to the ninken later and get something else since the thought of the chicken was making her stomach queasy.

Nudging Kakashi with her elbow she waited for him to turn his attention back to her before starting what she hoped wasn't going to be a long conversation. If it was she might just have to attempt to eat her arm.

"Do you want to pick up something on the way back?" He blinked at her and tilted his head just the slightest bit, assessing her and the chances of eating a homemade meal that night.

"But you already made chicken."

"Yes, but it's cold now and I don't feel like warming it up. Plus it's too late to start on the sides and I really don't want to. So, let me reword that first bit: I'm hungry and we're picking something up, so tell me if you'd rather have the Italian deli down the street or grab a burger from over on third." He sighed, his happy dream of a happy meal made with love disappearing as if it had never been, and shrugged.

"Italian." Good, that was what she wanted too. She turned to Naruto and put her hands on her hips, lifting her chin as she determined that she would fight her way out if she had to. She was _starving._

Naruto crossed his hands over his chest as he sat back, pouting. "Fine, go, but no more kissing in front of me while I'm eating! Or any other time!"

The door closed behind the couple –oh good God, they were a _couple_- and Naruto rubbed his hands over his face and looked around at the varying expressions on the faces on his friends around the room. "Who saw this coming?" He asked, astounded by the sudden and flustering turn of events.

It was all just so _gross_.

* * *

They all stood in a somewhat shocked silence after Sakura and Kakashi had left the Hokage's office, and Ino blinked as she swore that right before the door closed she had seen Sakura boldly slip her arm into Kakashi's.

Man, that really drove the whole "them" thing home.

Ino was just standing there a few moments after, simply minding her own business when a sudden and devious thought crashed through her defenses and tempted her. She grinned, a smirking and devilish grin that gave the others a hint of what direction her thoughts had taken. "Everyone, just stay here." She said, quickly dashing off to get what she needed. She was back in just under ten minutes, dragging a cart with a bulky TV atop it behind her.

"Ino? What the hell?" Tenten asked as she watched the blonde set the television up. Ino didn't bother turning her head, focusing on the task before her as she answered.

"A few months ago I set up a hidden spy camera in Sakura's room so that I could play a practical joke on her and then catch it all on film, but then I just completely forgot about it. But I just remembered it and I figured that since we're all incredibly curious, we'll just watch them when they get to Sakura's apartment so we can see how they really are together."

"That's a terrible invasion of their privacy." Hinata scolded, though she was just as curious as the rest of the group.

"Yep."

"Where did you even get this stuff?" Shikamaru asked, familiar with the technology and knowing that no one, least of all Ino, should have it.

"Oh, I borrowed it from the intelligence unit. Working there on weekends definitely has its perks."

"Ino, you can't just go stealing classified equipment." Ino rolled her eyes.

"Borrowing, not stealing. And stop complaining so much, I'm going to get it back as soon as I'm done with it." Shikamaru rolled his eyes but left the girl alone, muttering about troublesome women under his breath. When she finally got the picture showing a good view of Sakura's living room with the camera angled to view the couch a bit from the side, everyone sat down around the TV, dragging over chairs or sitting down on the ground.

It took less than a minute for Sakura to come in, coming into the picture as she tossed her keys onto the side table and flopped down on the couch, sighing heavily and miserably. Kakashi came into the frame soon after, carrying a white bag from the Italian deli they had spoken about earlier.

"Not eating in the kitchen?" He asked, the pink haired girl lounging on the couch growling irritatedly as she lolled her head over to eye him, too tired to put forth the effort to do anything else but just sit there.

"No. I'd need to clean up everything in there from where I cooked and I just don't feel like it right now." Kakashi nodded and walked over and sat down with her, pulling out the containers of food and then putting them on the coffee table in front of them.

Everyone in the Hokage's office that was watching leaned forward in anticipation as Kakashi picked up his food, flipping the lid open. They eagerly awaited the imminent action of Kakashi pulling down his mask so that he could eat, each of them getting more and more fidgety as he took what seemed to be an extraordinarily amazing amount of time to get his food ready, though when he did have it ready he sorely disappointed the group by turning slightly towards Sakura, effectively shielding his face as if he had known the placement of the camera.

"Damn." Ino muttered, crossing her legs beneath her and propping her chin on her fist. It just wasn't fair that Sakura got to see what was under there but they all had to just sit and stare at the back of his head.

As the couple eating on the screen made idle chitchat, the group watching the screen was suddenly reminded that their meals had been cut short and that they were hungry. After calling out for their orders and settling back in place they watched the screen once more, though they were quickly becoming bored with the whole thing. The two of them just seemed to be so... normal, and that wasn't what they wanted to see.

"Ino, why are we-"

"Shh!" She urged, sensing that something was about to happen.

Sakura picked at her chicken Alfredo and glanced over at Kakashi's shrimp scampi with longing, nibbling on her bottom lip as she tried to decide the best way to go about switching meals.

"Let me have a bite."

"No."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at the man, the beginnings of a pout forming around her mouth. "Why not? I give you food all the time, so give me yours." She said, going towards his bowl with her fork only to have him move it to the side and away from her reach.

"If you wanted it why didn't you order it?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Because I didn't know I wanted it until just now, so gimme." She said, lunging towards his outstretched arm with her fork extended, only to have him lift the bowl quickly above his head, wrapping his arm around her waist both to catch her from falling from the couch and to hold her in place so she couldn't get to his food.

"Are they… flirting?" Tenten asked, partially stunned and partially amused. They looked like they were having fun like a normal couple, which was kind of unbelievable to the people in the room since the whole scene went against every thing about the two's relationship they thought they knew. Ino nodded, still focused on the screen in case Kakashi turned his face even the slightest angle and allowed his face to be seen.

"Ten bucks says this ends with the two of them horizontal." Kiba whispered to the blonde girl beside him, holding up the money between them to show that he was good for it. Ino nodded and grinned, pulling out her own cash.

"Deal." She said, the pair quickly shaking hands and setting the money in front of them. Ino, who knew her pink haired friend better than most, knew that while something was going to happen it wouldn't be sex. After everything that had went down in the past couple hours Sakura would feel an insistent need to talk about it, something that would keep her thought process up and running while her white haired lover would be trying to shut it down.

After all, Sakura was predictable to a fault about these things.

Up on the screen, after a few minutes of struggling against Kakashi's hold Sakura relaxed in it, the delicious friction of their bodies registering to her mind. She leaned her face into Kakashi's, the hot kiss going on seemingly indefinitely as they shifted, Kakashi reaching around to toss his food at the coffee table so that he could get both of his arms around the girl. They shifted so that Sakura was straddling him as he lay back, glove covered hands gripping her hips, the camera capturing everything.

Everything but Kakashi's face, which was magically always at an angle that was unable to be caught by the curious eye of the camera.

Naruto gagged as he watched, turning his head away as he mentally tried to bleach the images from his mind. His best-friend and his teacher. His _best-friend,_ and his _teacher_. His-

_No!_ He mentally shouted, shaking his head as if that could shake away the evil thoughts and pictures that plagued his mind. _Happy thoughts. I will think happy thoughts. Hinata in the morning, her hair all messy. Kori when she smiles. Hot Ichiraku ramen. Fighting. Sparring. Sparring with Hinata. Sparring with Sakura. No! No Sakura! Because if I think about Sakura I'll think about Kakashi and then Sakura and Kakashi and then Sakura with Kakashi and..._

He felt like banging his head on the desk as hard as he could so that maybe he could crack his head open so that the thoughts would just pour out and leave him empty. Hinata came over with one of the bowls of ramen he had ordered, sitting on the arm of his chair and rubbing small soothing circles on his back as he angrily and silently ate, string down into the food as he tried to figure out a way to forget the whole day.

Back on the screen Sakura pulled away, sitting back, her hands holding onto the cloth of his shirt almost desperately, the sounds of their panting breaths the only thing that filled both rooms. Having caught her breath Sakura leaned over and picked up a shrimp from Kakashi's meal, popping it into her mouth before smiling mischievously at the older man she was currently straddling, chewing and then swallowing the bite.

"Haha." She taunted, grinning as a strong hand threaded through her hair on the back of her head to shove her back down to his mouth. His other hand moved down and then up, sliding over skin as he slid her shirt up. Kiba grinned wickedly as his hand twitched towards the money on the floor but Ino just smirked and watched as Sakura -dear, dependable, predictable Sakura- put her hand on his wrist and pulled back.

"Wait." She panted, a victorious grin spreading over Ino's face.

Bingo.

"Wait." She said again a bit stronger, the pair quickly trying to catch their breath, Kakashi's hands slipping down to settle on her waist. "We... We need to talk."

"Then talk." He said huskily, his thumbs rubbing sensual circles on the strip of exposed skin at her waist making her want to arch back into his touch and purr.

"What are we going to do about this whole Naruto situation? You know that he won't leave it alone."

"Who said we do anything?"

"Oh, so we're just supposed to expect him to get over it? Do you _know_ Naruto?" He roughly chuckled and slid his hands down to her thighs, gripping them as he tried to distract her enough so that she'd leave it alone for a bit. It usually took a bit of work, but it was always worth it when she submitted to him in the end. Seeing the expression on his face -an expression that the people watching _still _couldn't see- Sakura huffed out a breath and rolled her eyes, placing her hands on his chest for support as he shifted beneath her.

"Yeah, yeah, fine. We do nothing, I get it. But about this whole moving in thing, are you sure?" She peered down at him intensely, focusing every bit of her attention on him so that she would be able to sense even the slightest indication of hesitation. "I mean, really really sure?"

"Yes." Narrowing her eyes she stared a bit more as if she would be able to snatch the lie out of thin air if it dared to exist, destroying it.

"I don't want a house. I'm not a house person."

"Okay."

"So you're just going to have to settle for an apartment, though it can be big if you want. But not too big because I know that I'm going to be stuck with a lot of the cleaning."

"That's fine."

The stern expression dropped from her face so that she smiled down at him, almost seeming to glow. "Alright then, we can start looking later." She said, leaning down to seal the deal with a kiss. Just as everything between the two surged higher and hotter and just as Ino started feeling a little less sure of her victory, a blur of fur and energy dashed out from somewhere off screen and up to the couch.

Paws propped on the couch cushion to hold the medium sized dog up so that he could pant and eye the pair eagerly as they stopped and pulled back from each other. Sakura's face was flushed and there was a small light of annoyance in her eyes, but she hid it like one would hide such feelings from a small child who had done the same thing.

"Yes Shiba? What is it?" She asked calmly, as if she hadn't been passionately making out with the white haired man beneath her.

"I was waiting for you, Cherry Blossom! I waited in your room and didn't bother you and I didn't eat the food you left out, but that was really hard because it smells really good and I'm _really _hungry!"

"You can have the chicken if you want it, Shiba."

"Great!" The dog yipped, dashing into the kitchen to jump up to the counter and grab a piece of the food, trotting happily back into the living room so that he could eat with his beloved Cherry Blossom.

"How long have you been waiting for me?" She asked the dog as Kakashi put his arm up over his eyes, grumbling under his breath about his ninkin and about how he would get rid of the lot of them, though everyone knew that they were just useless threats.

"Oh, a long, _long_ time! I got here when you were cooking but I waited for you in your room so that I could surprise you and then you could give me food and we could sleep together!" The dog quickly finished his piece of chicken and was about to go back into the kitchen to get some more when he remembered something. Propping himself back up he shoved his nose into Sakura's stomach, sniffing it curiously.

"Shiba?"

"Hey, Cherry Blossom, are human pregnancies like dog pregnancies? How many pups are you going to have? What are you going to name them? Can you name your favorite one Shiba2?"

"So you eavesdropped on us while we were talking?" Kakashi asked, the dog sending the white haired man a shocked look.

"No! I wouldn't eavesdrop on Cherry Blossom! I was just listening to you because it sounded interesting!" Neither bothered to point out that this was the exact same thing, just sighing and allowing the dog to believe what he wanted to believe.

Sakura looked a little uneasy but she smiled, gently shoving the dog's face away from her abdomen.

"Human pregnancies are a little different, and I should only be having one." She looked anxiously down to where the tiny life inside of her lay, "It better be only one." She muttered, Kakashi –who apparently didn't mind just laying underneath Sakura since he hadn't made a move to try and get her off- rubbed her legs soothingly, silently assuring her that everything would be alright.

Inside of the Hokage's office it was completely silent, everyone frozen as they stared dumbstruck at the screen and tried to figure out what they were supposed to do now. Naruto was the first to react, standing up so quickly that his chair flew back to angrily hit the wall, tipping over as he disappeared through the window with a furious growl.

Ino began to curse until the air turned blue, furious at herself for not thinking that something like this wouldn't come up between the two, especially since they were alone and unaware that they were being watched.

There was no way Naruto, with how protective he was towards Sakura- was going to leave this alone without there being a huge blow up that would screw up everything for the couple, probably alerting the whole village to the relationship the couple had been diligently hiding for the past two years.

Hinata, immediately realizing this, raced after her husband to catch him and try to talk some sense into him, running after him as fast as she could to catch up to his fury fueled speed. The silent group watched as a few minutes later the couple and dog jumped at the sudden pounding and shouting that came from the door.

"Open this door RIGHT NOW! I swear that I'll break it down if you don't! Open this door you bastard and tell me what the _hell_ you were thinking getting Sakura-chan pregnant! I swear to God Kakashi I'm going to break your fucking neck and then I'll cut off your dick for even daring to touch Sakura and-" His ranting continued as Sakura's eyes got wide, trying to figure out how he had figured out that she was pregnant. Then they narrowed in a furious moment of clarity.

"Ino." She hissed, her hands fisting at her sides, preparing herself to go out and find the girl to beat some sense into her. Kakashi shifted underneath her, the vivid and brutal descriptions of how Naruto was going to torture a certain part of his anatomy getting to him.

For someone many believed to dense to rightfully have the title of Hokage he sure had a way with words.

Just as Sakura was getting up Naruto made good on his threat and crashed through the door with a thundering impact, Hinata finally reaching him when it was too late, running after him and shouting for him to stop and calm down. Sakura ran off the screen and Kakashi sat up, roughly rubbing his face and then slipping up his mask, managing to once more keep his face hidden.

Ino let out another curse fly free since she felt that the whole thing had been her only opportunity to see the famed copy-nin's hidden face.

Listening to the shouts and the confusion -apparently the neighbors had gotten involved- that went on off the screen Ino reached forward and took her money, tucking it into her bra before standing up and stretching out the kinks that came from sitting on the floor for so long.

She was going to take her money and she was going to get something to eat, something heavy and fattening with way too many calories, and then she was going to get dessert because the salad she had ordered earlier certainly wasn't fit for a last meal.

* * *

Sakura felt the sideways stares and heard the hissing whispers as she bent over the chart of one of her current patients, rolling her eyes as she made the necessary marks on the papers. God, you'd think that nurses would be more worried about their jobs saving lives than gossiping about something that wasn't their business, but no.

"Ino, you're probably in the middle of all of this," Sakura said to the gossip queen as she stepped up beside her, "So what's everybody saying?"

"About what?" Ino asked, though she dropped the innocent act when she looked into the eyes of her friend.

"Well, after last night it's spreading like wildfire that you and Kakashi are," She made a circle with one of her hands and then moved one of her fingers in and out of the hole in a crude gesture that Sakura immediately swatted at, her face flaming, "Though the interpretations are all different." She said, flipping her own chart open. She enjoyed working in the hospital's clinic once a week or so, especially since the doctors and nurses had some of the best gossip in the whole village.

"What do you mean, interpretations?"

"Well, there's one that says that you're actually sleeping with Naruto," She ignored the choking sound that Sakura made and continued on, making her own marks on her charts. "And that you were just using Kakashi to make him jealous and that's why he acted the way he did. Another one is that you're just acting as Kakashi's beard and then there's one that says that the only reason you two are together is because he's into the kinky stuff. You know, teacher and student role-playing and stuff."

Sakura snorted and picked up another chart, flipping through the papers. "Well, I'm not with Naruto and Kakashi's _certainly _not gay." Ino waited for a beat and then turned her head towards her.

"I'm not hearing anything about the kinky stuff." Sakura rolled her eyes at the girl and chuckled.

"No, Ino, we don't role-play." Another beat of silence before Ino spoke up again.

"But still, what about the kink?"

Sakura slapped the file closed and handed it in, turning to send the blonde a look, "I'm sorry, but I'm not comfortable with telling you about my sex life, nor am I obligated to. I certainly don't ask you about yours." Ino smiled as she turned in her own filed, her grin a touch wicked and gloating.

"Well, I could tell you about the night I had with Kiba." Sakura sighed and hung her head slightly, unable to decide between laughing and groaning.

"You and Kiba?"

"Yep. I figured that since you were going to kill me because you thought that I told Naruto about the baby -thanks for not doing that, by the way- I'd live a little. So I ate a hot fudge and caramel sundae and then cornered Kiba for some sex." She leaned against the counter of the nurses station they were at and grinned like the cat who had ate the canary and then had washed it down with cream. "You wanna hear about it?"

"No, no. That's okay." Sakura said, not wanting to deal with that headache or the images that would come with it. "But I would like to know what you're not telling me."

"Well... There's a pool." Sakura blinked and then felt her lips twitch up into a smile. That was just... absolutely ridiculous.

"Do tell."

"Some are saying that you two are going to end as soon as he gets tired of you, but there are some that are going the other way. Very few people think that you two are ever going to last, and there's some serious betting about the date of when you two are going to are going to split. Then there's some that are saying that the baby isn't real and that you made it up to keep hold of the _'Great Copy Ninja'_." She patted the girl's shoulder when she made a sound of disgust. "Yeah, yeah, I know. If it makes you feel better, I put some down on you two lasting."

Sakura smiled. "That would be pretty easy to do since you're running the thing." She said, knowing the blonde well. Ino smiled back at her as they picked up the new charts.

"Oh, Kiba's helping. It'll give us some alone time." Sakura chuckled and shook her head, her face immediately loosing all merriment as she sent a sharp look towards the cluster of nurses.

"I'm sorry, but I thought we were in a hospital, not a hair salon. Stop with the gossiping and get to work." The women immediately scurried off, fearing the famed temper of the pink haired doctor. Ino chuckled and shook her head, watching the receding back of her friend as she walked away. "Oh," She called back as she went, her green eyes glinting mischievously, "And go ahead and put me down for a hundred on the two of us lasting. I like playing the odds."

* * *

Not my best, but it's better than what it was before I did some serious editing (And that title? Seriously, after almost 50 chapters I'm running dry on these things).

Someone posted a comment for one of my chapters that while they didn't support the pairing they liked the story I wrote, and I have to say that to me that is a great compliment. That means that you enjoy my writing and aren't focusing on who I ship, so thank you.

Oh, and to my darling dearest xaburame15, I will once again fulfill one of your wishes (I just can't deny any of you anything! You're all just so amazing and sweet!). From the last chapter the kids were as such (oldest to youngest)-

Tohru- Jiro and his wife (Yes, I know who it is. No, I will not tell you. I have it planned and the story may be written)

Cora- Karin and a guy (Nope, she didn't get married. May or may not explain) (Ooh, I'm such a tease!)

Aki- Jiro and his wife

Hiro- Jiro and his wife

But that is it! I will not be writing stories involving grandchildren! No! I will prove my friend Missy wrong! (She insists that I'll cave)

And to my sweet little Temudjen, thank you. You really are such a sweet heart, giving me all those compliments (You make me blush!).

I'm glad that non of my ShikaTema chapters disappointed, and I'm afraid, luzhikari, that I can't answer that. The secrets of my sorcery can never be revealed for the repercussions would be too horrid. (And thank you for commenting)

See you next time, my lovelies.


	49. A Night Together, NaruHina

Just a short and sweet little NaruHina fic.

* * *

Hinata studied herself in the floor-length mirror as she twisted this way and that to look for any imperfections in her appearance. Her long dark blue hair was pulled back from her face and was twisted into a braid that ran the length of her spine, her bangs falling softly over her forehead and the two long pieces of hair that framed her face falling down past her shoulders, -styled this way so that Naruto could unbraid it for her at the end of that night, something the blonde Hokage had always loved doing.

Her lavender dress was simple and modest with the high neck and ankle length, though it didn't have sleeves and it was tighter than her usual clothes, molding the curves of her body in a way she wasn't a hundred percent sure about. But thinking about what Naruto might think of it was enough to get her to slip on her heels, grab her wrap and handbag, and then step out of the bedroom after one more cursory look at her makeup.

She took a breath before descending the stairs, holding it as she made her way elegantly down as she prayed that she didn't ruin everything by tripping and tearing something. Yuka whistled when she got to the final step, she and her twin clapping as they looked their mother over.

"Way to make an entrance, Mom." Hinata smiled at the pair and slid her hands down the sides of the dress, smoothing out invisible wrinkles.

"It's okay?" She asked the two, smiling nervously as she did the turn when they motioned for it.

"Yeah! Dad is going to have a goat when he sees you in that." She smiled at the girl and made her way into the family room, looking down at the blonde who was lounging on the couch, flipping through some teenage magazine. She flicked her white eyes up and ran them up and down her mother, smiling at the woman.

"You look hot." She teased, snorting when a blush bloomed on her mother's cheeks.

"Thank you, I think. Do you know where your father is?" She asked, running the smooth material of her wrap through her hands, worried that if they didn't leave in time they wouldn't be able to keep their reservation. Though when she thought about it she couldn't see that happening since very few places would ever be arrogant enough to dismiss the Hokage so easily.

"Um… yeah. He should be in the other room messing around with Leo and Mino." Hinata nodded and was about to go get him when Yuka shot up and raced to the door, screaming the whole time. "DAAAAD! Mom's ready to go! Leo! Stop distracting him! No, you're the stupid one! NO, YOU'RE SHOUTING!"

Shaking her head at her boisterous children Hinata looked down at her oldest and the babysitter for the night. "Okay, Mino always goes to bed at seven so you don't have to worry about him but I want Leo and the girls in bed by nine and you can stay up until eleven if you'd like. I don't want any bloodshed and if anything breaks it will be taken out of your allowances. There are leftovers in the fridge and you can each have _two _cookies from the jar. We'll be home late, but we'll check on everyone before we turn in for the night." Kori nodded her head and curled her legs up so that her mother could sit with her.

"Got it. I just have one stipulation." Hinata's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to figure out what she would want. "I don't want you guys coming back with another little brother or sister for me. I think it's about time for you guys to stop with the whole baby thing." Red filled Hinata's face as she stared open mouthed at her daughter. Yuki poked her head over the back of the couch, tilting her head at her sister questioningly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, it seems like every time they go out by themselves they come back with another baby nine months later."

_"Kori!"_ Hinata hissed, mortified, but Yuki only nodded.

"She's right. It's loud enough here without another baby." She said, a sudden crashing tumble coming from the other room as if to emphasize her point.

"Okay! You'll both have to buy your mother another picture frame and make sure you apologize when you give it to her. I think she liked that one, or maybe it was the other one that she liked. Well, either way you're gonna go shopping later. Together." He said, each of his hands on the back of of his children's necks. Leo walked along with his arms crossed while glaring murderously at his sister while said girl walked along proudly, her chin up and her shoulders back.

"But Daddy," She wined, hoping to not have to spend more time than necessary with the awful hellion that claimed to be her brother, "I've been saving up for the collection of bound letters between two friends that were opposing generals that's in the first shinobi war at the antique shop for weeks!"

Naruto looked down at the girl and though he wanted to grimace at her reading choice he stayed straight faced –something that was still hard to do even after all the years. "No reading for fun or buying books until your mother gets a new frame." The blue haired girl pouted at this, causing her red-headed brother to smirk at her until his father squeezed the back of his neck warningly.

Naruto looked up and caught sight of Hinata as she was standing up, her dress sliding beautifully over the curves of her body, her hair and makeup elegantly and yet simply styled. There was a beat of silence that seemed to thunder in time with Hinata's heart in her ears as she waited for his response, waited to know if perhaps it was too much or too little.

And then a familiar grin split his face, spreading relief and warmth throughout her.

"Wow." He said, making Hinata giggle and do a slow little turn. God, she loved how he made her feel when he looked at her that way. Like she was the center of his whole world and the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Like she was the most important thing in his eyes, placed above Ickiraku, above being the Hokage and his above even the dearest of his friends. Like she was absolutely, positively, perfect.

And when he looked at her like that, she certainly felt like it.

Bending over she placed a kiss atop each of the kids' heads, the last one being Mino who had managed to slip silently into the room behind the ruckus his siblings and father had created. Slipping her wrap around her shoulders she looked back at them as Naruto started pulling her out of the house, eager for them to be on their way. "We'll be back in a few hours. Be good, don't burn anything or get into any trouble and mind your sister. Love you!"

And then they were walking down the path to the village, smiling as they fell into step with one another, their joined hands swinging slightly between them. The walk was a little long and made even longer by their easy pace but neither minded, happy to be spending some genuine alone time with each other since it had been so long since they had done so.

Naruto's job as the Hokage demanded so much of his time that recently it had gotten so that he was spending more nights sleeping in his chair in his office after accidentally falling asleep in it than in the bed they shared. What little free time he had was split between her and the children, and since they were dependent and outnumbered her by four they got the majority of his time. And raising five children while continuing to train so that she could maintain her physique was no easy task either and it all refused to give her much time for herself, let alone managing to sneak out to be with her husband.

But tonight it was going to be just them. Naruto wore a crisp white shirt and a black dinner jacket with matching pants instead of his Hokage robes to show that he wasn't going out as the Hokage that night. His staff had been warned that short of another war blowing up or Konoha being invaded he was not to be interrupted upon punishment of death and the ANBU who followed them had been told to be so invisible that they were nonexistent.

Tonight he was just going to be Hinata's as they celebrated their fifteen years of marriage.

They made their way to the restaurant, trading stories and catching up on anything they had missed, smiling and laughing as they passed by people who tried to drag them into conversation but were politely denied since neither of them wanted anything to take away from their night.

The restaurant was the best in Konoha and as such required very formal apparel –black ties and elegant dresses- though Naruto was allowed to forgo the tie since he hated the things and the maitre-d certainly wasn't going to throw the Hokage himself out for the offense.

There were no pictures on the menus, the lighting was all by candlelight, the napkins and tablecloths were all real and were paired with more utensils than anyone in their right mind would ever need. It was expensive, but no matter how she had protested Naruto had never given in, insisting on treating her like the princess she was at least once a year.

And when he put it like that Hinata just couldn't find the breath to argue.

She had missed being like this with him, missed feeling the fluttering in her stomach when he gave her a certain look or the tingling she felt when he said her name in that special way of his. She had missed the casual touches and laughing conversations, missed looking into his bluer than blue eyes and knowing that she was loved unconditionally and without bounds. She supposed that the best way to sum it up was to say that she had just missed being with him.

After they had finished the final bites of the dessert they had lingered over Naruto looked over at the window, squinting as he tried to guess the time. He guessed that they should be getting home, especially since the kids might as well have been by themselves, completely ignoring the fact that there were ANBU that were always secretly guarding them. But he didn't want their night together to end, not just yet.

"Do you want to walk around the park a little bit before we head back?" He asked, his forehead scrunching up in worry as she shook her head.

"Um, actually," She said quietly as a slight blush spread over her cheeks, slipping a room key emblazoned with a nearby hotel's name on the table. "I thought we could hold off on going home for a few hours." Naruto blinked down at the key for a moment before looking back up into the face of his slightly embarrassed but determined wife, grinning as he grabbed her hand to bring it to his mouth so that he could quickly kiss the palm, making her blush become even more pronounced.

"You," He said, slipping the key into his pocket before standing up and holding his hand out to help her out of her chair, "Are positively brilliant. And sexy. And amazing. Did I mention sexy?" She laughed as she took his hand, allowing him to lead her out of the restaurant and over to the hotel where they would be spending a few more blissfully happy hours to themselves.

* * *

Tada!

Sorry if it seems a little short but... this is where it ends to me. So deal with it (Na-na-ne-boo-boo!)

I've gotten a lot of love for the ShikaTema stories and I want to tell those who have asked for it that yes, I will write more for them. I already have one planned.

Toodles my darlings!


	50. Unmasked, KakaSaku

Sakura knew it wasn't the time for what she was thinking. She was a doctor, a professional, and she was _not _going to take advantage of her unconscious ex-teacher. He was injured, lying in her bed after she had healed him since he once again had refused to go to the hospital, and she was staring at him through the doorway as he slept like some creep.

She wouldn't take advantage of the situation.

She _wouldn't._

Silently cursing she slowly and stealthily made her way to the bed, freezing every time Kakashi breathed for fear of waking him up. Finally after the excruciatingly long trip over the six footsteps that separated the bed and the door she was beside him and looking down at him.

She shouldn't be doing this. She should turn around and go back into her kitchen and try some other time when he wasn't out cold after having been seriously injured.

She shouldn't be doing this.

Holding her breath desperately she reached out slowly, biting her bottom lip as she lightly touched the mask that covered his face, rolling her eyes up to the ceiling as she sent out a prayer for guidance.

Hoping that this wouldn't somehow turn on her she closed her eyes and slipped the mask down.

Nothing happened. There was no curse enacted, no Kakashi waking up and grabbing her so that he could kill her. None of the terrible things she had been imagining happened, so she peeled one eye open to peek down at Kakashi's newly revealed face.

The first thing she noticed was that there wasn't a tan line, and that was a strange first thought. But even after diligently keeping his face covered for years his skin was all the same smooth and even tone, which was pretty puzzling. But then she stopped focusing on that one stupid fact and she saw his face.

His nose was straight and even, the angles of his face smooth. His lips were slightly on the thin side and the skin was unmarred but for the scar that slashed through his left eye and led over onto his cheek. He was young looking, not a wrinkle on his face even after the stressful life he had led.

He was handsome. If they had been strangers passing each other on the street she would have had to take another look, perhaps sending a flirting smile his way before leaving. She would have been tempted had she not known who he was. Had he not been her ex-_teacher_, she really would have been tempted.

But she knew who he was and she understood the uncrossable boundaries of their relationship so she simply ignored that tempting little warmth in her gut and slipped the mask back in place, stepping backwards until she was finally out of the suffocating room.

She just had won the bet she had with Naruto over who would see Kakashi's face first, but for some strange reason she just didn't want to tell the other boy. It wasn't that she was possessive about it, there was just no way that that would be even remotely possible.

Was it because he wasn't hiding an atrociously ugly face like she had said? The only remotely ugly thing about his face was his scar, but even that refused to take away from anything. It only gave him a dashing air, like a rakish pirate or a bandit.

She tried to shake those silly thoughts out of her head –she really had to stop reading those ridiculous romances- and instead started making a sandwich, hoping that food would get her mind off of how much she wanted to see Kakashi's face again. Taking a vicious bite that puffed her cheeks out slightly and left little dabs of mayonnaise on her lip she glared out the window above the sink.

"Sakura." She whirled around at the sound of his voice, her cheeks still stuffed with the bite of sandwich she had now forgotten all about so that she looked something like a pink haired chipmunk.

"Mmm?" She grunted, quickly swallowing as her cheeks flushed with mortification. "I mean… Kakashi, what are you doing up? If you don't stop getting up before you're all the way healed I'll have to start forcing you to go to the hospital instead of coming over here. I won't be able to heal your stupidity if this keeps up, you know."

He slipped his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels, his eyes crinkling up into a smile. Sakura caught herself wondering what his face looked like when he smiled and reigned herself in lest Kakashi somehow figure it all out.

"You know," He said conversationally, "That might be a good idea."

She blinked at the man who had seemingly and suddenly gotten over his aversion to hospital. "Huh?"

"Yeah. At least at the hospital no one peels back my mask when they think I'm unconscious because they're all professionals there." Sakura blinked at him again before once again answering him gracefully and articulately: "Huh?"

He continued to smile at her and Sakura could practically feel how he was restraining his laughter. Laughter because he knew what she had done to him earlier.

She just couldn't figure out how he knew. Had he only been pretending to be asleep while she had done it? If so, why had he let her see his face? Why hadn't he tried to stop her? What was he planning?

He tugged slightly at his mask, not bothering to mask the laughter from his voice, mocking her. "My mask was crooked. Really Sakura, I thought Tsunade and I had trained you better than that." Her face flushed until it became a red that it battled the tomato she had put on the sandwich in her hand as a result of her being completely mortified and embarrassed that she had been so careless as to get caught.

Seeing the look on her face Kakashi made a strangled sound that quickly formed into full blown laughter. Her face flushed an impossibly deeper and brighter red as he walked out of her apartment, fully healed and laughing at her all the way.

* * *

This was just because in all the fics I've written Sakura has never had a reaction to Kakashi's face, and there would have had to have been something earlier on. I was going to put it in _Secret Lover,_ but there just wasn't any room. So you got this ity-bity little thing.

Kathy seems to have, once again, gone somewhere I can't find, so that's the reason for this chapter and the last one, though I was happier with the last one.

TTFN, Ta-Ta for now! (Happy monkey points for anyone who gets that reference!)


	51. The Prodigy and the Pauper, NejiTen

Another gift for my darling xaburame15, who asked for a fic about his favorite couple.

And when my sweet baby asks I will always deliver.

(Also, look! This is my 50th little story! (I don't count the one about the kids))

* * *

Tenten grumbled as she tugged at the kimono she wore, fidgeting and hissing as she tried to figure out why the hell she was being forced to wear the stupid thing. It felt bulky and crooked, heavy and hot, and no matter how many times Neji gave her that patronizing look of his she knew that the stupid thing really was itchy.

She hated itchy.

"Tenten," Neji sighed as he grabbed her arm to keep her from pulling at her sleeves any longer. "You're going to have to stop twitching so much when we get to the estate." Tenten scowled at him and considered taking out one of her hidden kunai and throwing it at his stupid face, but she decided it would be better not to. The stupid kimono restricted her movements too much for her to do any real damage anyway.

"I can't help it if this stupid thing doesn't fit right. I don't see why I have to wear it anyways since it only makes me feel like I'm a bloated beached whale." Neji shook his head at her, prompting the woman to stick her tongue out at him for acting like she was some petulant child.

"We're going to meet with the clan elders so that they can discuss our marriage with them since we didn't have their official support or an official representative at the wedding. And _everyone _has to dress traditionally and formally for the meeting." Tenten grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest, scowling at her husband's stupid Hyuuga face. Now she was going to spend a couple of hours in a stuffy meeting in a stuffy outfit that itched.

"Well, maybe if they could get those sticks out of their asses we would have invited them. That way we wouldn't be going to this stupid meeting, I wouldn't be wearing this stupid outfit and that way we could still be in bed."

"Tenten, it's almost after noon. There's no way we would have slept in this late. And I though Hinata-sama had helped you with getting used to the kimono."

"Who said we would be sleeping?" She muttered, watching as a slight flush covered Neji's face and as an electric light flashed in his pale eyes. She had to hide a smile, thrilled at how she affected him. Maybe now that he was thinking about it he would regret forcing her to go to the stupid meeting.

"And yeah, Hinata tried to help," The elegant woman had almost seemed to float across the room in her own kimono, looking like the beautiful heiress she was. Whereas Tenten consistently continued to try and stride across the room like she normally did instead of taking the tiny steps that the outfit required, often tripping over the hem of the stupid thing and nearly falling on her face. "But it didn't do much good. It's like trying to get a ballerina to teach a fish how to dance. Absolutely impossible."

Neji blinked at her before shaking his head, a smile flirting with the corners of his mouth as he grabbed her arm and carefully brought her alongside of him, continuing to hold on so that he could make sure she didn't fall. "I can't believe you just compared yourself to a fish."

They made the rest of the trip to the Hyuuga compound in silence, Tenten feeling Neji tense up the closer they got to the gates as if bracing himself for a crippling blow. Tenten knew how he felt about the council and even with all her complaining she was happy to go with him, happily coming along to protect him from whatever evil the old stiffs would try and impose on him.

They would try to break them up now that it was no longer just their precious prince flirting with a poor pauper. They had married each other without permission from them since the two had obviously known such permission would never come, and now the couple was -to their minds- a serious threat to the prestigious Hyuuga bloodline.

The couple knew that they were walking into to a trial and not the "meeting" they had been promised, but Tenten was confident that there wouldn't be anything that would go the council's way, especially when it came to breaking her and Neji up. They were too strong together and loved each other too much.

They stepped up to the imposing gate to the estate and waited for a branch member to come and lead them to where the meeting was, the caged bird seal on her forehead seeming to shine like a beacon as they walked the tastefully groomed path.

There was a lot of formal talk that went on as they were introduced to the council that Tenten ignored, glancing around the room at the assorted elder council members that were seated in what Tenten supposed to be an imposing half circle on a slightly raised platform, Neji and Tenten sitting on two cushions that were placed slightly apart in the middle of the room.

Neji had been right when he had told her that they were all going to be dressed traditionally, everything about the whole thing reeked so badly of old traditions that Tenten wanted to sneeze. Everyone was sitting back on their legs like it was nothing, but Tenten could already feel her legs start to tingle from the foreign position. Hadn't these people heard of chairs?

"Hyuuga Neji, you have been called here so that we may discuss your recent," The old man's white eyes flicked over to Tenten, "Divergences from the honorable Hyuuga way." Tenten wanted to snort at how stupid all of this was but restrained herself, glancing at Neji from the corner of her eye. He seemed to be at ease, his face smooth and emotionless, waiting for something to happen.

"Is it true that on the fourteenth of this month you were joined in an illegal union to the woman who sits beside you?" Tenten bit her tongue to stop it from making a mistake, trusting Neji to guide them through this since she knew that he could skillfully navigate the murky waters of the clan politics far better than she could ever even think of doing, hoping that they could also get out of here earlier so long as she kept her mouth shut.

But that didn't stop her from viciously and repeatedly throwing her kunai at the old man in her mind.

"No, Council elder, that is not true. The Hokage himself presided over the ceremony, making it legal in both the eyes of the law and my eyes as well." Well, didn't he sound all fancy.

"Yes, yes," One of the other elders spat, pulling out a glossy print from the folds of his sleeves. "We have seen what came of this so called 'ceremony'." He said, giving the print to one of the branch members to take to the couple. Neji's eyes flicked over it briefly before passing it to Tenten, his face a blank slate that none of the elders would be able to crack.

Looking down at the photograph Tenten smiled down at the still moment that someone -probably Ino if she remembered it right- had captured. It was the kiss at their little wedding, her in nothing but a slip and Neji's jacket, grinning as she pulled Neji's smiling mouth down slightly to meet her own.

Figuring that if she asked for it they would just say no Tenten slipped the photo into her sleeve. At least the stupid outfit was good for something.

"Nothing about that holds even the slightest bit of decorum! What would people think about our clan if a photo like _that _got out?" Tenten merely thought that people would be surprised that someone as uptight as Neji had done something like getting married in such a way, but she made sure to hold her tongue and not voice the opinion no matter how badly she wanted to interrupt the old bag of wind. "As the most skilled of your generation you represent the honor of the Hyuuga! Do you not care for your clan?"

"My clan is my family, and as such I will always think of their interests." Neji quietly replied, and Tenten watched with a sinking heart as the elders smiled as if they had gotten the exact answer they had wanted.

"Yes," Said one of the calmer and younger looking ones said, though when he smiled he looked something like a cobra going in for the kill, "And that is how it should be."

"Yes," Another interjected, "We are glad you understand. But you must also understand your importance to the clan. You were a child prodigy and are one of the strongest and most loyal of the clan. You have certain responsibilities."

"I understand my responsibilities." Neji said and that collective grin was once more passed around the room.

"Good." One of them said, nodding as if this settled the entire matter and tied it up with a neat little bow. "Getting the union between the two of you annulled should be an easy enough matter if the clan pushes enough, especially with the girl's low social status. We have allowed you these years with her to sow you wild oats but now that we know you are ready for a commitment we have a few select women for you to choose from that will result in children that will be just as skilled as yourself. Something the clan desires greatly."

They rustled around as if celebrating a great victory, some of them preparing to get up and leave, but Neji's cool voice cut through the chatter and caught their attention.

"I am unable and unwilling to do that, Clan elders." They blinked as if unsure that they had heard correctly, almost as if they couldn't process the fancy 'NO' Neji had just casually tossed their way.

"Your duty to the clan-" One of them angrily began, obviously finally catching on to the fact that they had been denied.

"I know my duty." Neji coolly interrupted, "And my talents are yours to use as is best for the clan. But I do not belong to you, not in body, heart or soul, no matter how this clan has strived for it. The only person who will ever be able to claim that is Tenten." Tenten flushed at his words, wondering what the old stiffs would think if she got up from her seat and went over to Neji to give him the kiss of his life. Maybe it would be the last little push for the heart attach she desperately wanted each of them to have.

"You do not know your place!" One of them angrily thundered, Neji's cold eyes simply cutting through the man's bluster.

"Yes, I do." He said quietly, leaving no doubt in the elders' minds as to where he meant. He was saying that he belonged with Tenten, not following along with whatever the council demanded. He belonged with the woman he would call wife no matter what they demanded of him.

The room erupted, the elders angrily picking apart everything both of the people in front of them had ever done, pointing out every wrong doing and every fault. One proposed a payout, saying that since Tenten had only married for money just giving it to her would suffice. They continued on and on, voices echoing throughout the room as they tried to save their precious "Hyuuga honor".

"Since you seem to be fond of the girl why don't you just keep her on as a mistress?" Another prompted, his tone kind in a desperate kind of way as he tried to persuade the boy in front of him. Neji's eyes turned sharp as he glared at the man who had dared to open his mouth, his icy eyes turning absolutely frigid as he cut the elder down with a single look.

"You insult me and you insult my wife by thinking that either of us would go along with such a suggestion." He said, his voice low and just as cold as his gaze, showing the room just how dangerous the whole situation was becoming.

"Neji," The head elder said, the entire room becoming silent. "Are you saying that you are choosing this woman over the clan?" White eyes met and clashed, both men holding their ground against the powerful opponent they found themselves facing.

"I am saying nothing of the sort."

"But would you?" The stared silently at each other for another moment before Neji, his voice clear, his eyes strong, answered with a sureness that none of the men in the room could hope to shake.

"Yes."

There was a murmur of distaste that spread though the room before the head elder spoke again, his voice grave.

"Then you leave us no other choice." He sat back and drew himself taller as to make an even more imposing figure.

"Hyuuga Neji, if you continue to refuse to break the union between you and the woman who sits beside you, in order to protect a bloodline as pure as yours from being tainted you will force us to turn on your caged bird seal." The branch members that had stayed in the room to serve collectively gasped, their hands automatically reaching up to touch the seals that branded their foreheads.

Tenten felt her heart stop, just literally stop beating in her chest. She knew what that seal meant, knew what they could do with that seal and just how far they could go if they wished it. She knew the horror the branch members lived in because of the seal and she knew that she wouldn't even begin to comprehend the pain he would be in if they enacted it.

She wouldn't let them take her family -her tiny little new family that she had placed all her hopes and dreams on- and destroy it as they pleased. She wouldn't let them saddle her with the guilt of his death and with the knowledge of what could have been done to save him. Not when it was a simple thing to help him, though it would kill her to do so.

Opening her mouth and closing her eyes, she prepared herself to give up the only man she had ever loved, when his voice cut through the fog of pain and bone aching sadness that filled her.

"So be it." He said, Tenten's head whipping over and her eyes flashing open as she gaped at him. He looked so serene and strong, as if the threat of an agonizing death at the hands of those who had called him family didn't phase him in the least.

Seeing this Tenten took strength from him, sensing that he had a plan. She turned back to face the council, chin up and her eyes fierce, desperately praying that he knew what he was doing.

All of the Hyuugas that filled the room looked shocked, as if they hadn't even considered that Neji would choose such a thing.

"One thing." Neji said, jerking the men from their stupor, "Only the main branch is to know how to turn on the caged bird seal. How did you learn to do it and what makes you think that you'll be able to control it?" The head elder was just opening his mouth to answer him when another voice, sharp in its fury, cut through the room.

"Yes, I was wondering the same thing."

The room turned as one unit, everyone staring at the imposing figure who had silently made his way into the room.

"Hiashi-sama." Neji said, bowing his head down respectfully in a smooth movement that Tenten tried to copy, though hers was jerky and a bit to quick.

Hiashi nodded to the two of them, "Neji, you and your wife may leave." The pair bowed their heads once again before standing up, though they were stopped when one of the council members jumped up in protest.

"Wait! They have not been accepted by the clan and-" He was stopped by the harshness in the clan leaders gaze, an icy coldness that was an equal for Neji's.

"Yes, they have. The ceremony was watched over by my eldest daughter herself and I have accepted the union personally. And as the clan leader my blessing should be sufficient enough." The elders nodded slowly and unhappily, watching as the prodigy and the girl they thought of as nothing more than a pauper walked away.

Once the gates closed behind them Tenten whirled around and punched Neji as hard as she could. "Don't you _ever _do anything like that to me again," She growled, forcing her tears to remain pooled in her eyes, not wanting to let them fall so close to the bastards they had both just faced. "Do you understand me?" He smirked slightly and rolled the shoulder she had hit, reaching out to bring her close and press a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"Yes." He murmured, and she wrapped her arms around him and held on desperately, never wanting to go through another moment like the ones where she had thought that he might have been taken from her.

* * *

I hope you liked it!

Once again this was a little slight continuation from the chapter _Feelings_, which was my first NejiTen.

This got the juices flowing so there will be more for this couple sooner rather than later.

And to the guest that commented yesterday (For some reason your comment isn't showing up on the website): Of course I don't mind ideas! In fact, I adore it when you, as my readers, ask me to write out ideas. I find it challenging and they help kick Kathy back into gear if she's being lazy (just like this one did for me now). Your ideas are good and I promise to get to them, though I don't know when. I just kind of go with the flow on these things.

Oh, and for the deprived people who didn't get my little reference last chapter: _TTFN ta-ta for now _is what Tigger from Whinnie the Pooh says.

Stop judging me.


	52. Perfect Girl, KakaSaku

This one if for my little guest (Who are you, dear little guest?) who said:

**"...about went he [Kakashi] realizes SHE [Sakura] was the one. The real one he wanted forever without a doubt..."**

So... maybe not exactly that but something like it.

Thank you for your suggestions and I liked them, so I'll be working on some more (What fun!)

* * *

Kakashi blinked to try and make everything focus as the world managed to stop swirling around him after he came out of the transportation jutsu, only keeping his legs under him out of the sheer force of his will. He blinked again at the sight of Sakura's door in front of him and tried to recall why he was here instead of at his own apartment. Ah yes, he had just gotten off of a month long exhausting mission and had wanted to take a shower to get the smell of sweat and death off of him before he slept for a week, but someone at the gate had kindly informed him that his apartment building was under construction and that they had had to shut the water off.

And so, wanting a shower more than he wanted his one good eye at the moment, Kakashi had simply transported himself wearily to the front door of his young lover's apartment.

Slowly opening the door Kakashi dragged himself inside, leaning bodily against the door so that it would shut.

"Ah, Kakashi, how was your mission?" The white haired man turned achingly slowly towards the voice, blinking at the blurry form that lay on the couch. Sakura was lounging on the couch reading a book -one of his books, he noted- with his ninkin Bisuke pressed up against her legs dozing, though ready to awaken at the slightest hint of danger to protect his precious Cherry-chan. The woman had her hair up in a messy bun and had an incredibly oversized T-shirt on that hid the shorts she wore. It was obvious that this was one of her days off since she was just curled up on the couch and reading a book in the most comfortable clothes she had, a pastime that she always did on her free days.

Kakashi wondered if the sleep deprivation was affecting him too much when he was struck by the incredible thought that she was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

Watching the white haired man blink blearily at her and sway slightly in place Sakura smiled at him sympathetically. "That bad, huh?" Not waiting for an answer she knew would never come Sakura stood up and walked over to the man, Bisuke grumbling as his nice and comfy heat source walked away from him.

Sakura bent down and went about taking the man's shoes off, Kakashi leaning back against the door for balance as he tried to think of a reason why a part of him was telling him to get it in gear and stop the girl in front of him from babying him. He supposed it was because the thought of someone fourteen years younger than him having to take care of him was supposed to be insulting, but at the moment all he could focus on was the fact that he was so tired his bones ached with it.

After managing to get his shoes off Sakura straitened and unzipped his vest, the rank smell not bothering her overmuch since she had been liberally covered with it a time or two herself. She took off the rest of his clothes to leave him in just his underwear, smiling as he actually managed to fall asleep standing, showing her just how deeply tired he was.

She went back into the tiny laundry room and threw all of his clothes in the wash along with a special detergent that worked feats of magic on old blood and any other stains that came from the field. When she walked back into the living room, the steady thrum of the washer echoing around her silent apartment, she found Kakashi slumped against the door lightly snoring, his legs just barely managing hold him up.

Slipping her arm around his waist she started to lead him back to the bathroom, chuckling as Kakashi came awake prepared to fight even in his sluggish state. "Calm it down there Bucko, I'm just going to throw you into the shower." He sleepily grumbled and leaned more of his weight onto her, too far gone to even consider what a blow this could be to his manly ego.

After depositing the man into the tiny box of a shower her apartment had Sakura turned on the water fully cold, making him jump and hiss as a bit of the blurriness that surrounded everything disappeared. Ignoring the curses that he slurred Sakura pushed his boxer-briefs down his hips and grabbed a washcloth, standing outside of the tiny shower as she roughly washed away the thick layer of grime that covered him.

When he started shivering she began turning up the water until it got tepid, hurrying now so that the water wouldn't have the time to actually lull Kakashi to sleep. She didn't think she'd be able to get a good hold on him when he was all dead weight and wet and slippery.

Water fell out from the open door and onto the tile floor, soaking through her clothes as she managed to wash the past month off of him. She knew the type of mission it had been, though not the exact details.

He had been sent to spy on someone, probably undercover, perhaps an assassination. But something must have went wrong, perhaps he had been seen or perhaps an alarm had been raised, but whatever it had been he had had to get out of there and fast. Where ever the mission had been it had been a terribly long way away and whoever had been chasing him had obviously managed to keep up and leave him unable to sneak away with some jutsu or trick. He hadn't had sleep in days and she was worried that the same might have been said about eating.

Well, whatever had happened he certainly wasn't in a position to take care of himself.

After turning of the flow of the water with a violent twist of her wrist Sakura managed to wrestle Kakashi out of the little cubicle, briefly drying him off as much as she could but not bothering with his hair. He could go to bed with it wet since there was no way she'd ever be able to get him to lean down enough for her to do it without him falling on top of her.

Managing to get him into the bedroom she allowed him to fall onto her bed, quickly covering his nakedness with a sheet, closing the curtain and door so that the light wouldn't bother him.

* * *

When Kakashi woke up he wasn't happy. He just wanted to slip back into the blissful unconsciousness and not worry about a thing, not about how tired he still felt or about the inevitable mission report he'd have to give an angry Tsunade. But his well trained mind was urging him to get up, and as much as he wished he could continue sleeping until everything had passed, he knew that wouldn't happen.

But the smell that was leaking through the crack in the door was certainly making him feel better.

Managing to find the spare pair of pants he kept in Sakura's closet he slipped them on, not bothering with anything else, not even his mask. If anyone else came he'd just have to pick something up to hide his face with.

He shuffled out of the room wishing her were ten years younger so that he could just shake of the aches he was feeling like they were nothing, but luckily his little lover was a skilled and sympathetic medic so she'd be able to kiss it and make him feel all better.

Said little lover was currently in the kitchen fixing what smelled like heaven to his empty stomach, yawning widely and looking positively adorable in her baggy clothes and mussy hair.

He dimly remembered everything she had done for him before putting him to bed and though it embarrassed him he appreciated it, especially since he knew he would never have be able to do any of that on his own. Really, the only thing that bothered him was that his trust and complete faith in the woman had grown so deep that he had subconsciously allowed her to see him so vulnerable when he would have naturally fought against anyone else, even as tired as he had been. He wasn't used to that.

"You slept for about fourteen hours." Sakura casually mentioned, flipping sausage out of the skillet and onto the plate in her hand. "When I heard you stop snoring about a half hour ago I figured you were waking up so I started on breakfast."

"I don't snore." He said defensively as he sat down at her little kitchen table. She snorted as she sat a plate piled with toast, sausage and eggs on the table in front of him, going back over to the stove to pour him a cup of the tea he preferred over the coffee she drank.

"You did last night, and it was so loud that I could hear it through the walls. I don't know how I ever got any sleep." She teased, sitting down across from him to eat her own food.

He found himself staring at her. She wasn't beautiful and she never had been, and she wasn't the kind of person he would normally be with, especially not with the whole previous teacher-student relationship. But he -a man who had never been in an actual long term relationship with anyone- had been with her for over a year now.

She was bossy, loud, angry, violent, fierce, short-tempered, arrogant, hard-working, kind, efficient, funny, smart, proud, soft and absurdly emotional. And there she was, sitting across from him in a baggy and stained sweatshirt and shorts, thick ugly socks covering her feet while her hair fluffed out in a tangled mess around a face that was bare of even a speck of makeup.

And he just sat there thinking that she was simply perfect.

Sakura looked up to find him looking at her and smiled at him, though the smile became puzzled when he just kept on staring. "What? Do I have something on my face?" She rubbed at her nose for good measure, wondering what it could be.

Kakashi shook his head and just kept on staring at her as she fidgeted under his gaze, "What?" She snapped out, growing tired of it as she glared at him.

"I think I might be in love with you."

Sakura, for some odd reason, tried to breathe in while making some kind of shocked sound, which had her choking on her own spit for a few moments.

"What?" She wheezed as she tried to take a breath, grabbing her coffee to take a sip and clear her throat, _"What?"_ Kakashi nodded as if having decided something, leaning back in his chair with a serious expression on his unmasked face.

"Yep. I think I do."

Sakura watched as he got back to eating as if the _"I love you"_ thing was no big deal, and after thinking about it a moment she couldn't figure out whether she should jump across the table to clock him or kiss him.

Poking at her eggs with her fork she decided to do neither.

"Well then, I guess I think I love you too." There. She could be nonchalant too. She could ignore the way her face was burning and the way the loud beating of her heart masked all other sounds. She would just sit in her chair and pout and act like an adult if that was the way he wanted to play it.

Suddenly she felt her chair tilting back as Kakashi leaned it enough so that he could press a burning kiss to her mouth that made her toes curl deliciously. "Good." He growled, tugging her so that they could go to the bedroom and celebrate.

She figured it was a good thing she had a sturdy table since they never made it.

* * *

Hope you liked it!

To my newest little darlings:

xFallingxCastlexWallsx- Thank you! Aren't you the sweetest?! Yes, I have some with Rin in it which I will be posting soon and I do actually have someone planned out for Kiba and I'll get to that... eventually. I just sit down at my computer and write whatever comes to me so it may come out by tomorrow or in a month.

zigmas- Thank you, too! And a whole _year _for the actual ending? For shame!

Seashells1000- Fangirl about me? OF COURSE YOU CAN! Can I do it for you, because you're simply amazing.

mjess15- Yes, there will be more ShikaTema

Hana Lee- Yes! I will write! Hahaha!

If I left any of you out, I'm sorry. (There's just so many :D)

And I got 10,000 views! AHHHH!

And Ninquelot, you were my guest? Gasp! You little trickster!

See you all soon my little lovelies!


	53. It's a Piece of Cake

This is just a little somethin' somethin' for my best friend Tiffany and for xFallingxCastlexWallsx who wanted something about Rin.

* * *

Rin held onto the bags in her arms as she skipped up the back porch steps of the Uzumaki house, popping the door open with her hip as she walked into the kitchen. "Aunt Hinata? Helloooo? Guys? Is anyone here?" She sat the bags down on the counter and breathed in deeply, savoring the smell of warmth and sunshine. She had always loved coming over.

"Rin, hey! Did you bring the stuff?" Kori asked as she hurried into the kitchen, her blonde ponytail swinging out behind her. She made a beeline to the bags and started poking at them, shoving the stuff around inside of them noisily as her mother entered the brightly lit room.

"Rin, what are you doing here?" She asked, coming over to hug the girl and brush a kiss over her cheek.

"Kori and I are making a birthday cake for Karin as a little surprise. Sorry, I figured she would have told you, so if you can't spare the kitchen-" Hinata shook her head at the girl's words.

"No, it's fine. Do you need any help?" Rin shook her head and smacked Kori's hand when it wandered towards the chocolate chips she had brought.

"No, we'll be fine. Thank you."

"Alright, just ask if you need anything." She said, waiting until both of the girls nodded before she left. Rin sighed as she exited and turned back to the bags, pulling out the things she had brought with her and then organizing them on the counter.

"What kind of cake are we making?" Kori asked, leaning against the counter to watch.

"Karin's favorite cake." She waited a bit for some understanding to come from the blonde girl and rolled her eyes when none came. You'd think she would have remembered her best friend's favorite cake. "It's a vanilla cake with peanut-butter frosting."

Kori made a face. "Isn't that kind of boring?"

"Which is why I brought chocolate chips." Kori nodded as if agreeing with such a wise decision, watching as the competent girl tied her thick black hair up in her usual bun and then started measuring out and then mixing all of the ingredients in a bowl. Within moments she had the cake batter practically all whipped up, handing the bowl to Kori so that she could finish mixing it while she got the cake pan out.

"Okay," She said, setting it down and turning back to the cabinets to find the cooking spray, "Before you pour it in-" She cut off when she turned to find Kori proudly pouring the cake batter into the pan.

"Wait! Kori, we have to grease the pan before you pour the batter in." Kori smiled apologetically. "Oh, right. Sorry." Rin nodded and scraped the batter back into the bowl, setting that pan into the sink before getting another pan and setting it down on the counter, turning and finding the cooking spray. She turned back once again and saw Kori pouring the last of the batter in the new pan.

"Kori! What did I _just _tell you?" The blonde blinked down at the pan as if unsure of how it had happened.

"Um... right. My bad." Rin stomped over and grabbed her arm to pull her away from the pans, pointing to her so that she knew not to move from her spot. Getting out yet another pan she greased it and then poured the batter into the pan. She sighed as she waited for the oven to finish preheating, turning back to put the new pan in the sink.

"So we're going to put these chocolate chips on it?"

"Mhmm." Rin, suddenly having a bad premonition, turned and caught Kori just before she tossed a handful of the chocolate chips into the batter.

"Wait!"

"What?" Kori shouted, "You said we were going to put chocolate chips in the cake."

"On the cake, not in it."

"What's the big deal? In/on, potato/potahto. At least if we cook them it will be all gooey." Rin rolled her eyes and quickly moved the pan into the safety of the oven, figuring a few minutes before the preheating was done wouldn't hurt it.

"If you just toss them on top of the batter like that they sink in and make dents as it cooks. We'll just sprinkle them on the icing when we ice it, okay?" Kori blinked and nodded as she absorbed the new information.

As the cake baked the girls set about cleaning up the mess they had made, washing the extra pans and the other dishes, wiping down the counters and the stove-top. They passed the final few minutes flipping through magazines and chatting.

When Rin pulled the pan out of the oven and sat in down Kori tilted her head, squinting a bit at it. "I thought that the top was supposed to be more... round." Rin nodded and sighed.

"Yeah, the rack in your over is probably tilted. We'll just cut the top off after we get it onto a plate." She said as she got a large plate out along with a long knife. She ran the knife along where the edge of the cake met the pan and then put the plate over the top of the pan, gently flipping it upside down and setting it on the counter.

"Okay, to get it out we need to tap the bottom-" Kori's hand suddenly came out and slapped the back of the cake pan with a force that nearly dented the metal. "Gently."

Kori blinked at her before smiling at her apologetically. "Sorry." Rin waved the apology away and picked up the pan, looking down at the cake that had crumbled into two parts on the plate, another part still stuck to the pan.

"Umm... maybe it will be better when we put the icing on it?" Rin nodded her head and flipped as much of the cake over as she could, cutting off the lopsided roundness on the top. The patched up what they could, making a lump that thankfully would still taste like a cake, and Rin left the icing to Kori since the girl had a delicate touch with it, surprising when you thought about how she had handled everything else up to that point.

They both sighed as they sat at the table, staring at the thing that sat proudly at the center and that looked amazingly like a cake. "Well, that was exhausting." Rin sighed and Kori nodded in agreement.

Hinata came into the room and looked to the cake. "Well girls, that looks nice." Kori shook her head at her mother.

"It may look nice but it's evil. It's an evil demon cake and I hate it." Hinata's lips twitched and she looked to the floor, her eyebrows raising at the complete mess that covered the tile.

"How did so much of the cake get on the floor? There's more there than on the plate." Both girls turned their heads to look down at the absurd amount of crumbs that covered the floor and sighed.

"Evil, _evil _cake." Kori muttered as Rin got up and got the broom, sweeping up the crumbs into the dust pan Kori held steady as she crouched to the ground. Hinata stood watching them for a moment before she shook her head at them, turning to leave the two girls alone so that they could settle whatever had gone on with the cake.

Rin looked over at the happy little frog clock that hung on the wall and nearly sagged at how much time had passed. How had it taken so long to make a single cake, especially when they hadn't even put the chocolate chips on top of it yet?

"We're supposed to meet up with Karin in about an hour." Kori grumbled to show that she had heard her and flopped back down in her seat, watching as Rin carelessly tossed the chocolate chips on the deceivingly simple looking cake.

"We're going to have to be careful with this so that we don't accidentally smash it since we won't have any time to make another one."

"I'm never making another cake again. Ever. There is a reason that they sell those things in stores."

"When you bake a cake it doesn't usually end up like this. We just had a few... bad moments." Rin defended as she tented some aluminum foil over the cake. Kori snorted and shook her head.

"Yeah, and each and every one of them made me feel extremely dumb. I don't really want that little ego booster to happen again anytime soon."

"It's just because you've never baked a cake before, and they weren't very big mistakes anyways." Kori grimaced as she got up to get her shoes, hopping as she slipped them on.

"Well, we're certainly not ruining this one. If that thing has even one crumb out of place when we get to the training ground I'm going to scream so loud I'll be able to crack the glass in the windows here from there."

Rin shook her head at her and smiled, picking up the plate and ducking her head out the archway to call out her goodbyes at Hinata before following Kori as she continued on with her rant about the evil cake they were currently transporting.

* * *

All of the above was based on an absolutely true story.

My bestest friend in the whole wide world and I decided to bake a cake for our friend Missy's birthday and all of the above happened (I was Rin, Tiff was Kori). It took us four hours (yes, you read that right) to make that stupid cake (We were trying to make it look like a castle and be fancy. We failed.)

It isn't that Tiff is a bad cook, and it's the same with Kori. Their mothers did all of the cooking and took care of everything and neither of them really learned. But Tiff has started learning recently and has actually gotten quite good, just like Kori will.

Quick hello to Hektols, my newest commenter ant the first person to put something negative in a review. I hit a mile stone! Hahaha! (Yes, I'm not upset about it. No, this does not mean you all can say mean things to me. I'll cry.) Thank you, my dear one, for your feed back.

I hope you all have a _super_ sparkly day! (If you get the commercial I'm referencing here, you're awesome)


	54. Peace and Family, ShikaTema

This is for all my little preciouses who have asked for another Shika Tema fic.

I heard you, my darlings, and I have delivered!

This would be set roughly about a year after Temari came back.

* * *

Temari was forced awake by a terrible screeching sound that made her want to force whoever had come up with the idea of alarm clocks in a very small hole filled with nothing but that terrible noise so that they could suffer like she did. Thankfully it stopped when Shikamaru hit it, but by that time they were both awake and wanting to be anything but.

"Go make breakfast." Temari grumbled as she rolled over onto her stomach, burrowing deeper into the blessed warmth and comfort of the bed, wanting to spend a few more minutes nestled in her happy little cocoon.

"You make breakfast." Shikamaru grunted, turning away from her and onto his side closing his eyes against the harsh reality of the daylight.

"I'll burn it." Temari threatened, though she could tell from the snort her husband gave that he didn't really care what she chose to do with it as long as she got up instead of him. The bastard.

"Don't you usually do that anyway?"

Temari turned and drew up her legs so that her knees were at her chest, planting her feet on Shikamaru's back and pushing, trying to force him out of the bed. He grunted and dug into the mattress, holding his ground against her attack.

"Your feet are cold."

"Sucks for you, doesn't it? Of course, you could always just hurry along downstairs and fix me breakfast, that way you wouldn't have to deal with me or my cold feet." Shikamaru smirked, though Temari couldn't see it.

"Nice try."

"I certainly thought so."

"Not going to work though."

"I figured that too."

They both lay there in a few moments of silence before Shikamaru reached behind him and grabbed Temari's ankle, turning onto his back as he pulled her over on top of him. Huffing out a breath Temari wriggled around until she was in a more comfortable position, their bodies flush together as she propped her arms on his chest. Blowing her hair out of her eyes she looked down at the smirking man who lay beneath her, giving him a look that matched his for arrogance point for point.

She loved the mornings when they were able to wake up together.

Reaching out she grabbed a piece of his hair and idly played with it as she thought over the dilemma they were faced with.

She wasn't really in the mood for sex and they didn't have the time for it anyhow, and they were both more than able to hold off on food so it wasn't a matter of who got hungry first. She supposed they could have played some little game like rock-paper-scissors to decide, but even such a simple and childish game like that would become a huge battle of wits that she just didn't really feel like having at the moment.

She knew that if she just asked nicely and said please that he'd do it, but she never really liked the taste that that word left her with and it just wasn't any fun if it was given up without a fight. Money wouldn't work, especially since they shared a bank account, and if she said that she'd owe him one he'd just use that to get her on one of the mornings she _really _didn't want to get out of bed.

And so they found themselves at a stalemate.

"I'm not gonna get up." She warned him, closing her eyes and laying her head down onto his chest. He grunted in agreement, both of them content to just lay together until they thought of a way to get the other out of bed or were forced out.

The bedroom door was opened and the thin teenager who stood in the doorway took in the sight, sighing at them but happy that they at least had clothes on. _That_ had certainly been a horrible and scarring experience that she never wanted to repeat again. Ever.

"I made breakfast." She told them, turning on here heel so not to tempt fate into giving her an eyeful of something she really didn't want to see. Temari lifted her head up to watch as the girl left.

"I knew there was a reason we had her." Temari said, rolling off of Shikamaru and out of bed.

She slipped her robe on and padded out of the room, going down the steps and into the kitchen where a beautiful heaven existed. "Coffee." Temari sighed appreciatively, pouring a mug and cuddling it as if it were and adored child. The first sip was pure pleasure and every sip after that bliss.

Kyoko shook her head at her mother and continued to drink her orange juice, unable to understand her mother's love of what she found to be a bitter drink.

"Where did you learn to make coffee?" Temari asked her daughter as Shikamaru walked in, yawning as he scratched his bare stomach. "Obviously not from your father since whenever he makes coffee it looks like sludge and tastes like tar."

"You still drink it." Shikamaru defended as he picked up a piece of toast.

"I just didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"You've never worried about them before, so let's not pretend that you've suddenly started." Temari was opening her mouth to toss back a sharp little quip back at him when Asuma stepped into the room.

"Well now, there's the man of the hour." Temari said, lifting her mug up in a little toast that made the boy blush.

"Mom... Geeze." The boy grumbled, secretly making his mother's heart soar. After all the years and all the fears, no matter how many times she heard it she knew she'd never tire of it and would never be able to find a sweeter sound than that of her children calling her mom again and telling her that they loved her.

"What? It isn't every day that you graduate the academy. This is a once in a lifetime thing." And she thanked what ever deity that would listen with every fiber of her being that she was allowed to be a part of it.

"It's just not that big of a deal." He muttered, accepting the slice of toast that his father passed him. He generously slathered apple jam on the slice of toasted bread, something that both of his parent's made faces at since they couldn't understand where the boy got his sweet tooth.

"Yeah, Asuma, it kind of is." Kyoko said, and the blonde boy turned his head to give her a searching look, one that Kyoko was able to understand and detest.

Their mother hadn't been at her graduation and the fact that she was here for Asuma's and was making such a big deal about it hurt like a dull edged blade cutting through her skin. But she was fine. She would not allow herself to act as if she were a sniveling child and ruin this for her brother. She'd smile as if she didn't have a care in the world and would keep that smile on her face even if it killed her.

"Hey, don't you worry about me. This is your day so act a little happier about it, and I'm fine anyway. Got it?" Asuma nodded before beginning to nibble at his toast, though he still wasn't going to get any more excited about this experience than he already was.

As his father would say, it was all just so troublesome.

* * *

Asuma sighed, again, as his mother adjusted his new forehead protector. Again.

"Mom, its fine."

"No, because for some reason it won't get un-crooked."

"That's not even a word." He muttered under his breath, hoping that she wouldn't hear him. And of course she did.

"Yes, but grounded is. Now there," She said, nodding as she stepped back, "That wasn't so hard, was it?" Asuma merely rolled his eyes and prayed that they'd be able to get out as soon as possible.

But, of course, it was not to be.

They had to listen to the speech given by the Hokage, and since Naruto had never been one to give formal speeches it was amusing and short, which was something to be thankful for. But after the stupid speech was when all of the parents wanted pictures of everyone and everything, and Asuma thought he was going to be happily exempt from this after a quick little picture that they would all have to suffer through. But as soon as he saw Maria hurrying over to them with her camera in her hands he knew that it wasn't to be.

"Hey! So sorry I'm late! One of the shelves at the library collapsed and… well, I'm here now! Oh, look at you, Asuma! All grown up and… Isn't your forehead protector crooked?"

"That's what I've been saying." Temari sighed. The two women's eyes met and they both nodded to one another, understanding and accepting.

Asuma was watching them, waiting to see how this moment would pass, when an arm suddenly came around and hooked around his throat, tugging him back so that he was pulled against a familiar form. Tilting his head a bit he looked up at his best friend and sighed.

"Ringo, let me go."

"Oh, come on Asu!" The grinning girl said as she tightened her hold, "You're killing the buzz! Just think, yesterday we were children, wandering aimlessly through life without meaning or direction. But today, today we are men!" Asuma sighed again and suffered through the hold.

"Ringo, you're a girl."

"That doesn't matter! Geeze, you'd think you'd be less of a fuddie duddie on a day like this. We're genin, Asuma! Smile!" He just continued to stare at her until she reached with her hands and pulled the corners of his mouth up. Seeing what a priceless moment this was Maria quickly snapped a picture of the two, Asuma groaning and Ringo grinning.

"Ha! Perfect!" Maria cried out, grinning at the pair as Asuma resigned himself to his fate, standing and listening silently as Ringo prattled on, talking about how wonderfully great life was.

"That's a… nice camera." Temari managed, Maria looking back at her with a smile filled with nervousness and surprise.

"Um, thank you. I like taking pictures so I always try to get the best model." There was a beat of silence as the two women floundered for what to say next, everyone else holding their breath as they watched on. "Would you like to try?" Maria offered, holding out her peace offering.

Temari took the camera with hands that were far more steady than she felt. "Um, well..." She said, looking down at the little buttons and knobs, "How do I do this?"

"Well you just..." Maria started as she went over to her, both of them bending over the gadget. Seeing no bloodshed or cause of alarm everyone relaxed, realizing that the two women would go for one another's throats. They were trying hard to get along with each other and keep their oddly shaped family intact, and it was working rather well.

"Okay," Maria said, nodding, "Now you try." Temari nodded and lifted the contraption up to her face, peering through the little eye slot and at Asuma and Ringo. Ringo, seeing that she was going to be in yet another picture settled for wrapping her arm around Asuma's throat like she had done earlier, her other hand lifting up into a peace sign as she grinned widely.

After pressing down on the shutter Temari straightened, staring down at the camera in her hands for a silent and still moment before speaking, though she didn't look up.

"Ringo, come over here and take a picture of us, will you?"

"Oh, that's okay, I'll do it." Maria said but Temari shook her head and handed the camera to the young girl. "If you do that you won't be able to get in the photo." Temari finally looked up and met Maria's shocked look with a fiercely determined and strong look of her own.

"After all," She murmured, "You're family to them too."

Maria wondered how she could feel so numb and yet have so many overwhelming emotions rushing through her. When she had first woken up she hadn't wanted to come and had even lingered at work until that shelve incident had happened, and when those shelves had collapsed she had though it had been a divine sign until she had felt Asuma's graduation present in her purse.

She had been worried that, even though they had been civil to each other these past months, that Temari would try and keep the kids away from her or that the entire thing would end in some big blowout with the scary ninja lady trying to kill her.

But here she was, holding out that olive branch with a bittersweet expression on her face and those shadows threatening to overtake her eyes.

_Family._

The two women stepped forward almost perfectly in sync and they all crowded together for the picture. Shikamaru's hand secretly went to the small of Temari's back as he gave her his silent support as they stood behind the children. One of Temari's hands went on each of the kids' shoulder, but when her fingers brushed Maria's -who had kept her hands on Kyoko's shoulders- they both jerked slightly. Maria was about to move her hand when Temari shook her head, silently urging the woman to remain as she was as she did the same.

The shutter closed once again and captured that one still moment where both of the women came to peace with one another.

* * *

Maria kind of got away from me there and Ringo popped in for a spell but all in all I figure that it was pretty good. At first I just wanted a nice little Shikamaru+Temari moment and then I wanted their kids in there and than I also wanted to show that Maria and Temari have a decent relationship with one another and that they're able to deal with their situation.

Kyoko is growing up so she's able to get past all of that anger and jealousy, and someone asked if Temari would ever tell the kids what had happened to her.

No.

I don't even think that she'll tell Shikamaru everything, but she most certainly won't weigh her children down with the truth about what was being done to her all of those years she was gone. She knows that they'll probably never look at her the same way again, and she'll be in a fragile place for a really long time so she doesn't really need that.

Peace out, my homies. My home dogs. My brothers from another mother.

God, there's something wrong with me.


	55. What is Mine, NejiTen

This one is for NarutoIsMe and Hektols, and also for my friend Missy, all of whom said that the chapter _A Sudden Proposal _was definitely missing something without Neji going after the psycho.

Look, I made it special just for you.

* * *

Neji made his way stealthily through the trees, taking a slight detour from the path that would have taken him home after a long, redundant, and tiring mission. But though he might have been tired knowing what would come next certainly gave him enough energy to fight off hordes of enemy nin to get to his current target if he had to.

Following getting Tenten back home and their quick marriage Neji had gone to Naruto privately and had told him what had been done to Tenten. Seeing the light of fire that had entered the man's eyes had certainly given him a hope that they'd be able to take out the sick bastard as soon as possible but his words had stopped that train of thought before it managed to even pull out of the station.

_"Neji, that man is a very important person in the political world over there. Unless we want to start another war there is no mission I can give for this." Neji had had to bite down on his tongue to keep his anger in check, though he knew his eyes would have had to have shown it clearly because the blonde Hokage grabbed his shoulder and squeezed, leaning in a bit more as he lowered his voice, blue eyes blazing with fire._

_"Neji, as the Hokage I cannot ORDER a mission for this. OFFICIALLY, there is no way that I can do that. Do you understand?" He slowly nodded his head and Naruto leaned back to grin at him, slapping him on his back. "Great! Now, why don't you just sit around for a little bit? Just until the right mission comes along."_

A few weeks after that Neji found himself in the Hokage's office again as Naruto gave him a new mission, one that was so easy and pathetic an untrained genin team could have done it. But the point was that on his way back, miraculously, there were just a few short miles separating him and a somewhat familiar gaudy mansion.

Now, wasn't that a coincidence.

It was pathetically easy to slip past all of the man's guards and soon enough Neji was at the door to the room where he had been told the "Master" of the house slept. Silently opening the door he walked into the white and gold room, the moonlight making everything glow unusually. The man was lying in the middle of a huge bed of white silk, snoring loudly as he lay sprawled out as if he didn't have a care in the world. It would have been disgustingly easy to just kill him right then and there but the other person on the bed gave him pause.

It was a tiny girl who could hardly be over sixteen, her dark hair fanning over her pillow as she curled into herself, trying to stay as far away as her handcuffs would allow from the monster that lay beside her. She was so pale that the bruises on her bare skin almost seemed to glow, so delicate that it looked as if just breathing would break her.

Walking silently he went over to her side of the bed, covering her mouth as he woke her so that he could muffle the scream that predictably came as her horrified eyes flashed open. He didn't make a sound as he pressed his finer to his lips to show her to be silent, waiting until she frantically nodded before drawing his hand away.

She was biting her lip so hard that a slow trickle of blood was beginning to creep down her chin, trying desperately to keep her terrified whimpers at bay. Moving slowly Neji reached up over her head and quickly broke the locking mechanism in the cuffs, giving her a moment to rub her raw wrists and helping her sit up, pulling his own shirt over the child's shoulders, sheltering the poor girl from anymore of the ugliness that the bastard could try and taint her with.

Looking into her tear-filled eyes Neji allowed her to see the truth, to see that soon enough she wouldn't have to worry about any of it again. Waiting until he saw that morbid light of understanding and thanks, he nodded once before whispering harshly, "Run." He didn't turn to watch her go, to make sure that she left, instead he turned towards the still sleeping man who snored so peacefully and naively.

Not knowing that a very painful death stood over him, watching him with dangerously cold eyes.

Putting a silencing jutsu around the room Neji took a bracing breath before kicking the other man out of the comfort of a blissful sleep in a comfortable bed and into the hell that he was going to bring him.

"Wah-" He blinked blearily up at the form that stood away, face in the shadows. He could deduce -even in his sleepy state- from the mesh covering the well sculpted torso and from the shoes and weapons that whoever it was standing in front of him was a ninja.

He relaxed, the knowledge that his status protected him from these hired people easing any fears he may have had.

"What? What do you think you're doing, coming in here and..." He led off as the bed caught his eye -or, perhaps it would be better to say that the lack of a certain person on his bed caught his notice.

"What did you do? Where is my wife?"

"There was no such person here."

"I know there was! You better tell me what you did to her or else I'll-"

"Or else you'll what?" Neji asked quietly, crouching down so that the man before him could look into the luminous white eyes that glowed in contrast to the shadows that wrapped around his face. "Tie me up? Hurt me? Don't you think that these methods of yours are getting a bit redundant? And anyways," He said conversationally as a kunai seemed to magically soar across the distance separating them to leave a gash in the other man's cheek, going past his face and tearing through his ear, pinning the chunk of flesh to the wall behind the man. "I don't believe that you're the one with the power to make threats right now."

The bloodcurdling scream filled the room to the brim, continuing on endlessly as it echoed continuously and threatened to shatter the glass that filled the room, though because of the silencing jutsu the world outside of the room continued on serenely.

"Oh, I'd save your breath if I were you. We haven't even started yet, not really."

"Why..." He coughed, tears streaming down his face and blood gushing from his wounds, "Why are you doing it? Is it money? I can get you money, as much as you want!"

Neji shook his head at the man, playing with a new kunai that had appeared magically in his hands, testing the edge with his thumb.

"Don't insult me by likening me to you in any way, shape or form. It wouldn't help you in the least to make me any madder than I already am." The man whimpered as his eyes stayed riveted to the weapon in his captor's hands, feeling so desperately weak and helpless.

How could this man, this stranger, be doing this? What had he ever done wrong?

"Now then," Neji said harshly, standing up to walk the short distance that separated them, "Try not to scream too loudly. It annoys me."

Eventually the screams died away to tortured whimpers, his limbs and joints howling in protest, violent bruises forming on his once unmarred skin, the thick smell of fear and of urine filling the room.

He had no idea how this man was doing it. His eery white eyes glowed in the darkness, the veins around his eyes bulging and making such a frightening sight that he had momentarily been petrified when first faced with them before his screaming began anew. Somehow with just the lightest of touches at certain parts of his body this man was able to cripple him, turning the blood that flowed through his veins into acid and his muscles into a seizing and painful mess.

After years had managed to drag themselves sluggishly by the white eyed ninja stopped, crouching back down so that they were face to face. Neji tugged out a picture from his pocket, showing it to the man before him, watching as his eyes filled with recognition.

"This," He said quietly, "Is the reason that you are about to die. You do not deserve to know her name, you do not even deserve to look upon her face ever again after what you did to her, but I'm going to make sure that you know why I'm doing this. It's because you hurt her and you've hurt God knows how many other people in this way, and because you put a look into her eyes that should never had been there, not ever. That other girl too. But the last reason is because you touched her." He leaned forward so that their noses were practically touching, so that the only thing that the man would be able to see was the white of his eyes.

"And no one touches what is mine." He said calmly as his hand shot out and hit the point directly over his heart, shooting chakra into it with a blow that was harder than necessary but incredibly satisfying. The man's heart stopped beating with that blow and Neji watched as he died before his eyes, feeling nothing but a huge sense of accomplishment and sated blood lust.

He left the body where it was and simply walked out of the room and then out of the house, hitting the treeline just as the sun began to peek over the horizon at the new day. Calm now and fully satisfied, Neji hurried back home and to his wife.

* * *

A bit darker than I thought but... eh. It's how I see it happening. It's how I'd do it if someone touched what's mine, just without all of the calm and the Hyuuga skills. It would just be a pissed off me and a pocket knife, a gun and a baseball bat, just for luck.

I am currently falling asleep at my computer so I'm going to call it a night.

Sweet dreams, everyone.


	56. Leading to Greatness, NaruHina

Hello my darlings! My, it has been a long time, hasn't it? Six days this time, if my mathmatical abilities are correct.

Kathy went on a vacation along with my modivation (Haha, that rhymed!), but they're back now, and just in time to distract me from studying for my midterms. Yeay!

* * *

Hinata sighed contentedly as she woke up, surrounded by a familiar and beloved warmth. As usual she found herself acting as Naruto's personal teddy bear, the blonde man curling his strong arms around her so that she was left with no wiggle room, his legs tangling with hers so that she didn't know if they'd ever be able to unravel themselves from each other. One of his hands was threaded in her hair at the back of her head as if to bring her impossibly closer, his face buried into the curve of her neck as his hot breath puffed against her skin.

She silently giggled as she closed her eyes again, bringing her hand up to thread her fingers through the soft gravity defying strands of her husband's hair, happy to just remain in their exact position forever.

Naruto mumbled a bit at the sudden movement and snuggled even closer, his arms tightening around her as he nuzzled her throat, his hands beginning to wander in his usual morning wake-up routine. Hinata giggled again, snuggling closer in turn.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun." She murmured sweetly, Naruto managing to garble out something along the same lines, his voice absurdly thick with sleep. Naruto's hand's eventually slowed to a stop, both of them content to simply lay together and spend the last few moments they had free in the morning together before Naruto was forced to go off to be the Hokage.

"My father asked for me to come down to see him today." Hinata said quietly, Naruto grumbling against her neck something along the lines of him asking if she needed him to go with her. "No, It's all right, I think he just wants us to talk and I can't just pull you away from your job for something so silly as me being nervous." Another mumble about her not being silly and he gave her a quick squeeze as if to hold her a bit closer and tighter to protect her from what he knew her father could do to her.

His warm hand began to travel once again, sneaking up under her shirt to rest on her hip and then slide over to press his calloused flesh gently against her flat stomach. "Are you going to tell him about the baby?" He asked, his voice beginning to clear, though it was still deliciously husky.

Hinata sighed as she struggled with the decision. They had known for over a month now and she had had to fight Naruto to keep him inside so that he wouldn't step out onto the roof and scream the fact out so that the whole world could know that he, Uzumaki Naruto, was going to be a father when they had first found out. But she just didn't want to tell anyone, not yet. Not until she was one hundred percent ready to say, _"Yes, I'm going to be a mother." _And though Naruto could barely contain the information and probably slightly resented the fact that she was making him wait, she knew he wouldn't push her.

"No. Not for another month or so. Though if he uses the bakugan he'll be able to see it from my chakra flow." His thumb began to lightly stroke her skin and Hinata shivered slightly from the warmth that his touch spread through her. They stayed like that for another minute until Naruto's alarm went off, shattering their tender morning and making the reality of life set in.

After one last quick squeeze Naruto untangled himself from his wife, rolling out of bed and walking into their bathroom, stretching his arms out above his head and yawning widely as he went. After allowing herself one more quick moment in the comfort of their bed Hinata got up as well, pulling on her robe as she walked into the kitchen.

She knew that, as usual, Naruto would only have time to grab something he could eat on his way to the Hokage tower since he used the time that was supposed to be for eating to spend time with her in bed in the mornings. So she quickly toasted two bagels and made quick egg sandwiches with them, putting on bacon, egg, cheese and fried ham. She wrapped one in a paper towel and was ready when Naruto walked in, his hair still damp and dark from his shower.

They shared a quick kiss as they said their good byes and Hinata slipped the wrapped breakfast sandwich in his pocket for him to eat later, Naruto grabbing the other one and stuffing his mouth with a huge bite as he started walking out, telling her around his mouthful that he loved her.

And then she was alone in their little apartment, leaning against the counter as she smiled at the thought of just how wonderfully right everything was at that moment.

* * *

Hinata looked up as the door slid open to reveal her father, and as she slid into a familiar bow all she could think about was how thin he had gotten in the weeks she hadn't seen him. "Father." She said respectfully as sat across from her, waiting until he had given her permission to rise before she did so, but even then she kept her eyes lowered, as was proper.

They sat like this in silence for a few moments before she heard him sigh heavily and tiredly, and when he spoke he sounded so undeniably weary that it made Hinata's eyes widen in surprise. "Hinata, look at me." Hinata hesitantly raised her eyes until they met with her father's, quietly questioning him over the strange change in the usual formalities.

"Hinata, what do you see when you look at me?" Hinata hesitated over her answer, sensing that he wanted a truthful answer instead of the usual platitudes that most people would have wanted as an answer to such a question. And so, knowing this, Hinata studied her father in a way she wouldn't have dared to before.

His hair was beginning to gray and there were lines in his face that hadn't been there before. His eyes didn't just look tired, they looked positively exhausted, as if they wanted to simply give up. His shoulders seemed to be sagging under an invisible and cumbersome weight and there were dark half-moons under his eyes. He looked pale and tired and far older than Hinata could ever remember him being.

"I see you, Father." Hinata answered quietly.

Hiashi nodded and looked off to the side, staring out the window and into the gardens thoughtfully.

"I am sick, Hinata, and though I thought I'd be able to get past it, it doesn't seem like it will be all that easy. I am told that all I can do right now is rest, and even though I have been assured that rest is the best tonic, I have no illusions to how this will end for me. And so I have decided to get the proper affairs in order."

Hinata didn't want to hear this, she didn't want to think about it or know this terrible truth. Even though they had never been close and though Hiashi had been downright cruel to her at times, he was still her father and she wanted nothing more than to cover her ears like a child and drown out the sound of the silent pain that her father's words carried.

But she didn't. She couldn't.

"First and foremost is choosing an heir so that I can step down and get the rest that my doctors are persistently insisting on. I know that with you being the elder and with Hinabi being trained for the position that the elder council will be torn over which of you to choose, and I know that it will come down to who will be easier to manipulate between the two of you." Hinata took a breath and waited for the crushing blow to come, and she supposed that she should be thankful that at least her father was taking the time to justify and explain his position.

"Which is why I have decided to choose you as my heir, Hinata."

Hinata blinked and then blinked again, tempted to look around for another Hinata that was hiding somewhere in the room.

"I-I'm sorry Father, but did you just say that _I_ was the one that you chose?" Hiashi nodded and looked into the wide white eyes of his daughter.

"Hanabi, though I have trained her for the roll, is not a leader. She is young and follows the direction that is set out for her. She is too easily manipulated by people and without my influence the ones that will be leading your sister will be the council, and the direction that they will take her is not the direction that the clan needs. The clan needs to change and grow along with the times and that means that the leader needs to be someone who will be able to make these changes while going up against the council."

"I stand by what I said as you grew up, though perhaps I was a bit too harsh. You were timid and weak and you held traits that were not what I saw the clan needed for a future leader. But you have grown and you have gained confidence, and you have become a stronger and more dependable person. You may not have grown into the leader that I thought I wanted for the clan but I do believe that you have become a leader that the clan needs."

Hinata had to wonder if she looked as stunned as she felt. This, all of it, was what she had wanted since she was little. Acceptance, her father acknowledging her, the chance to be more, to be better, in the eyes of her family and clan. The chance to finally, _finally,_ be seen as a strong and dependable person.

This was everything she had ever wanted, everything she had ever yearned for, and she was surprised at how little it actually mattered to her.

Bowing low, Hinata took a bracing breath and closed her eyes, surprising herself with the words that came out of her mouth.

"Thank you, Father, I am honored. But I must respectfully decline." The silence that filled the room as Hinata remained in her position was deafening, and Hinata could only keep her eyes closed and pray that her father would see that this was the right decision once she explained.

"Raise your head," Hinata carefully did as he bid and flinched back at the cold look in his eyes, "And explain yourself."

* * *

Hinata and Naruto stood together with Neji and Tenten as they waited for the ceremony formally initiating Hanabi as the newest head of the Hyuuga clan to begin. Neji, Hinata and Tenten were in traditional kimonos, though Tenten couldn't seem to stop fidgeting and complaining about hers and Naruto, of course, was wearing his Hokage robe over his.

Hinata jumped slightly as a member of the branch house cleared her throat gently behind her, amazed that the small girl had been able to sneak up on her so easily, though with the way the baby had been screwing with her sleeping by giving her morning sickness in the middle of the night she was surprised that she was able to do anything but fall on her face and sleep for a week at the moment.

"I apologize for interrupting you, Hinata-sama, but Hanabi-sama has asked for you to join her in her room before the ceremony starts." Hinata nodded her thanks to the girl and quickly dismissed herself from their small group, following her into the main house and through the halls to a room that Hinata probably should have been more familiar with.

Thanking her guide Hinata slipped into the room, surprised at just how dark it was. She could see the dim form of her sister standing in the middle of the room, seemingly just standing and staring at the wall.

"I said that I want to be alone." She coolly said, and Hinata sighed as she slid the door closed. They were sisters, there shouldn't be this gaping chasm between them that she had to breech just to be in the same room with her and start a conversation with her.

"They said you called for me, Hanabi. Is there something I can do to help?" The younger girl stiffened and then tilted her head towards Hinata's direction. But even though both of them could feel the words that strained between them they stayed silence, the tension quickly growing between them as their patience faded.

Taking a breath, Hinata decided to take the initiative. "Hanabi-"

"Why did you say no when Father offered you the position as head?" Hinata blinked at the girl, unsure of what to make of her information. After all, the meeting between her and her father had been completely private and he had told her that no one would hear about Hanabi actually being his second choice. Sensing her sister's confusion Hanabi decided to add to what she had said and answer the unasked question that now drifted between them.

"I was outside the door listening to you when you two were talking and I heard him offer to put you as heir. After I heard that I went back to my room and the next day Father called me into the same room you had been in and informed me that I was to be the next head."

Holding back a sigh Hinata stepped forward until she was standing behind Hanabi, finding that the girl was actually staring into the large mirror that resided over the elegant and monstrous vanity, watching her reflection with eyes that were far too distant for someone her age.

"There were a lot of reasons for why I did what I did." Hinata said quietly, jumping back slightly in surprise when Hanabi whipped around to start pacing back and forth, her eyes furiously burning with intensity and desperation.

"Then what were they?! This is what you have been waiting for for years, isn't it? For Father to notice you and admit that you're better than me? Why did you say no when you had everything, _everything_, right there in front of you offered up on a silver platter?" Hinata tracked the girl with her eyes, lacing her fingers together in front of her so that she wouldn't fall back on her nervous habit of playing with them. She would get through this without panicking or fidgeting and be the strength that her sister obviously needed during this desperate moment.

"Because it was the right thing to do." She said, keeping her voice quiet and calm even as Hanabi let out a terrifying shriek.

"_WHY?_ Why do you think this with such a blind faith? Why is it that you are somehow able to blindly see something there," She shouted as she motioned towards the mirror to where she was still being reflected, "That neither Father nor I am able to see?" The girl stood there panting for a moment, her hair in wild disarray as it fell in front of her eyes like it usually did, her eyes wide and dilated, her elegant ceremonial kimono slightly wrinkled from her erratic and flustered moves.

"Because I can see past what that mirror is showing you." Hinata murmured, taking the girl and gently easing her down and onto the stool in front of the mirror, grabbing the thickly bristled brush from the top of the vanity and beginning to gently slide it through the younger girl's hair in long and soothing strokes.

"When I was little all I could think about was becoming better and surpassing my physical boundaries to catch up with you and be acknowledged by anyone really, as someone worthy of the Hyuuga name. I tried so desperately hard to be strong and I fought and fought time and time again only to keep falling, and somewhere along the line I just stopped. I didn't stop fighting to be more, I could never do that, not it I want my pride to remain intact, but I stopped falling. I stopped falling and I stood up as tall as possible and Father finally recognized me as someone worthy of being a true Hyuuga and carrying the weight of the clan on my shoulders." Hinata took a breath and smiled at her younger sister through their shared reflection.

"And I found myself almost completely uncaring." Hinata smiled gently at the shocked expression on the girl's face and sat the brush down, choosing a few of the hair pins that were laid out and beginning to twist Hanabi's hair up into something fitting of the occasion.

"I was honored, of course, and I was happy because it was the acceptance I had been waiting for for so long, but I knew to the very depths of my heart that I didn't want to accept to offer Father had given to me. There will be, of course, some _"what if"_s one day, but even then I will know that I have made the right choice. Hanabi," Hinata quietly waited for the other girl's white eyes to meet her's.

"The clan needs a strong leader, one who will be able to take on the challenges of this life and make the necessary changes. The clan needs a Hyuuga to lead them and I am not a Hyuuga, Hanabi. I am a Uzumaki."

Hinata picked up some of the hair ornaments and began to artfully finish the girl's hair, her hand's just as gentle as her voice as she tried to navigate her sister out of the suffocating prison of self-doubt she had locked herself in.

"You are young, far too young for what you are about to do, and I want you to understand that though you are young and though it may seem like it, you are not alone. I am here to help you, always, along with Neji Nii-san and Father. Naruto as well, and be rest assured that he is a very good leader and a formidable person when he wishes to be."

Hinata turned Hanabi so that they were facing each other, crouching down so they were able to look at each other easier. "You might not believe this now, you might not even believe this years and years from now when you are upon your deathbed, but Hanabi," Hinata gently brushed the strands of hair that stubbornly hung over the younger girl's eye and tucked them behind her ear, cupping her face and looking into her panicked and shocked eyes with a sureness that immediately calmed her. "You are what this clan needs. You will bring along the changes that this family is starving for and you will save them all from a hell of their own making."

"What if I can't?" She whispered, grabbing onto the hand that was cupping her cheek as if it were her final lifeline. "What if I'm not enough and what if I'll never be enough? What if I somehow make it so that these changes fall apart to ruin with me as the instigator, unwillingly ruining everything? What if I am not this savior that you seem to be depending on me being?"

Hinata gracefully stood up and slipped her hand from the other girl's hold, taking Hanabi's hand in both of hers and bringing them ever so achingly slowly to her abdomen. "I am not the only one who needs you as a savior." She said, her voice cracking.

Hanabi stared wide-eyed to where their joined hands rested, dragging her white gaze up until it met with Hinata's, the younger girl's eyes filled with an almost amazed and breathless wonder.

"Make this clan better, Hanabi. Form this clan into a family that I can proudly bring my child into, one where he will never be threatened by something as pitiful or terrifying as a caged bird seal or a branch family. Be the leader this clan and my baby needs." Hinata blinked her tears away, staring fiercely and determinedly into the eyes of the only hope she had for her child, the only hope she had for the tender and beautiful future that was slowly unfolding before her eyes.

"Please, _please _be the leader that I need."

Hanabi's hand slowly fisted over the delicate life that Hinata held within her, her head lowering so that her forehead rested above it, making a vow that they both knew she would die to carry out if she had to.

"I swear upon all that I am and all I will ever be that I will do everything in my power, Sister."

Closing her eyes against the overwhelming rush of emotions Hinata tried to breathe past the overwhelming relief that threatened to choke her.

"Thank you." She whispered thickly, "Thank you."

* * *

Hinata watched as Hanabi proudly made her way across the room to where the elder council members stood with their father, standing tall and never wavering as the ceremony dragged along. There were doubts that still lingered around the room about her age and about how capable she would be, but watching her as she held her head high with dignity and grace and with the aura of a leader, Hinata knew that her decision had been the right one.

And as the new head of the Hyuuga clan was finally instated the two sisters' eyes met and keeping that contact Hinata slowly bowed her head, thanking her once more and acknowledging her, letting her see that there were no regrets. Because Hinata knew that upon the fragile and yet unshakable base of Hanabi's shoulders a new Hyuuga clan would be built.

* * *

There were hints throughout the stories I've written thus far about Hinata not being the head when her father stepped down (her being a stay at home mom and such), but I felt like explainging the whole little story to you since you guys can't see into my head.

And yes, Hinata could have rocked being a mom and the head of the clan, but I just don't see it happening in my head. And yes, Hanabi is way too young (15), but younger and greater leaders have been put in great roles.

Catch you later my sweet darlings!


	57. The Best of Friends

This one is for xFallingxCastlexWallsx and my Missy dearest (my friend who reads these), both of whom asked for more Momo/Mino

Actually, Missy basically threatened me at gun point. She is able to look at all my doodles and actually talk to me about my characters and so these are the two that she has become seriously attached to.

Really, I never hear thee end of it. Maybe this will shut her up.

* * *

Humming happily Momo walked along the path to the home of the Hokage, swinging the bag she carried with her in time with the nameless tune. There was a cheerful spring in her step as she skipped up the front steps and a huge grin on her face that she flashed brightly to the woman who opened the door to her.

"Hello Momo-chan." Hinata said warmly, laughter filling her voice. The girl hadn't been over in about a week and she had been wondering when she would drop by again.

"Hello Hinata-sama! I'm here to work on our diorama for school with Mino."

"He's in the living room." She said chuckling when the girl immediately shot off to the room.

"Thanks!" Momo called over her shoulder, hurrying into the living room and dropping her bags when she finally saw her best friend and dearly beloved sitting cross-legged on the floor, leaning against the couch as he quietly read a book. "Mino-kun!" She squealed as she launched herself at him, wrapping the poor boy in a familiar and suffocating hug.

"I came so that we can finish or project and I brought a lot of stuff to help! And I also brought glitter so that we can decorate it!" She pulled back and beamed at the stoic and unchanging face of the boy.

"Okay." He said quietly, waiting for the exuberant girl to get off of him to set his book aside so that they could get to work.

"Mei and Kuro are doing this together and they're making the Hokage mountain and I told them that _everyone _does the Hokage mountain but they said that they'd be, but I don't really think so. I think the pond that we're making will be way better and no one else will be able to do it so we'll be… hey, what's that word?"

"Unique." Mino quietly supplied her, gluing together some paper to make the little trees that Momo had told him to do.

"Yeah! We'll be unique! Hey, how much glitter should I put on the lake?" She said, looking down into their little box with concern over how sparkly their "water" should be.

"That depends on where the sun is, doesn't it?" She asked before he could answer her. Sensing his nod she quickly made a sun, pasting it on the box before nodding. "Okay. Now we can put some glitter on it!" She said grinning.

"Don't get any on the grass." Mino reminded her and she nodded, catching her tongue in between her teeth as she focused on getting it just right.

An hour passed and Mino found himself working alone, patiently gluing together paper and art sticks so that even the most minute detail could be perfect. Momo had fallen asleep, her head resting on one of his crossed legs as she lightly snored. Glancing down at her Mino let slip one of his rare smiles, shaking his head at the girl.

The majority of people couldn't understand how the relationship between the two of them made sense. Sure, they had grown up together, but they were the complete polar opposites of each other. Didn't Mino ever get annoyed with how clingy and loud Momo was? Didn't Momo ever want Mino to stop being so quiet and unresponsive?

Mino thought it best to simply ignore those ignorant people.

Sure, she was loud and she barely ever stopped talking. She never heard the word "No" when it was spoken to her and she bulldozed past any objections when she wanted to get her way, but she was his best friend. She always had been and always would be.

She might have been loud but she always knew when to get quiet so that she could hear him, and since he rarely spoke she was able to fill whatever awkward silences there might have been. She might not have been able to hear the word no but she knew better than to go against him when he got a look in his eye, and he was fine with her getting her way since she always brought him along with her.

Finished with putting the final touches on the project Mino took a mental step back to look at the small box objectively.

And objectively, it sucked.

Everything was put together with the perfection that Mino was effortlessly capable of so he supposed that it actually probably should have looked quite decent, but Momo's influence was layered on too thickly.

The trees weren't green but orange and yellow since Momo's favorite season was autumn, and Momo had made the grass a violent lime green and the sky a dark and intimidating blue. She had been extremely careful when she had been putting the glitter on the pond, but the same could not be said for when she had decided to make the sun glittery and so everything was covered in a fine sheen of orange and yellow glitter.

It might have looked terrible when you first looked at it, but it was unpredictable and fun, just like Momo herself. And so, though he knew that their grade probably depended on doing it all over again, he knew that he couldn't change a thing.

"Mino, how about you wake Momo up so we can get her into a bed or send her on home. Your leg will fall asleep if you stay like that for too long." Mino looked up at his mother and down to the girl peacefully sleeping on his leg, drooling slightly as she softly snored. Shaking his head Mino reached over for his book, settling back since he knew that once Momo was out of it nothing could bring her back.

And it wasn't that he particularly minded being the one she leaned on, not in the least.

* * *

A little older than the last one, but still, it shows their friendship very nicely (Momo clings, Mino takes it like a man)

Oh, and this may anger some of you but Mino does not end up with Momo.

.

.

PLEASE! DON'T KILL ME! I ALREADY HAVE A _VERY_ ANGRY MISSY GOING AFTER ME!

Momo really does love Mino, but Mino only sees her as a friend and since Momo has always acted the same towards him he doesn't really see her feelings. Plus, Momo and Mino wouldn't work out because Mino would need something _more_. (I will explain more about this later)

Catch you later, alligator.

After a while, crocodile.


	58. Home Sweet Home, NaruHina

Hello again! Kathy has decided that I do not need sleep to survive, and neither do I need to get a good grade in my forensics class (I absolutley loath this class) and so she kept me up until one in the morning typeing this out.

Oh, how I love my muse (kills her silently and painfully with a death glare)

* * *

Hinata leaned back against the cushions of the couch, wondering if a person could actually die of boredom. It wasn't a thought that she thought often, but sitting in the little empty apartment waiting for Naruto to get home with nothing to do and no one to talk to, she felt like the crushing and infinite abyss of boredom was smothering her slowly and painfully.

Hanabi had been the first person she had told about her baby and after that she had told her father with Naruto, and knowing that she couldn't possibly hold him off any longer Hinata had given Naruto the permission to tell anyone and everyone about the pregnancy, something the man took all too seriously since _everyone _and _anyone _knew about it.

She was constantly being stopped in the streets by a concerned citizen who was wondering about her health and advising her against something she had done that could "endanger" the was given parenting advice and was constantly scolded over what she ate or if she was out in the sun for too long, she had been barred from the training grounds for even the lightest of training, not by her husband since she had explained there was no danger in some light exercise, but by the plotting old biddies who had been aghast at the thought of a pregnant woman doing anything but staying off of her feet and taking care of the home.

Hinata, a woman who was thought to have an endless amount of patience from her years of calmly dealing with Naruto and all of his antics, was currently holding said patience on a very short leash. Very, _very_ short.

Sighing heavily Hinata sat up and pouted as she looked down to the slight curve of her stomach that showed through the thin lounging shirt she wore. "You know, this is your fault." She accused, though the child growing inside of her womb did not reply.

Hinata shook her head and blew out a heavy breath as she tilted her head back and closed her eyes.

She hadn't expected being pregnant to be this... tiring. Whenever you saw those expectant mothers you always saw the happiness and joy and the elegant and proud way they carried themselves, always saw the glow their skin took on as if to be a beacon to show that they now held within them the purest light of them all.

What you didn't see was the morning sickness that never -_ever_- came in the morning, or the mood swings that were able to slam into you at the smallest of things and leave you reeling and in tears after it passed. You didn't see the headaches or the short tempers or the cravings that you always felt so desperately but then were revolted by moments later, and Hinata knew it wasn't even close to being over yet.

Her stomach was going to continue to grow from the slight and easily hidden bump she had now and it was going to affect the everyday things she had to deal with like sleep and bending over or sitting and just simply moving around. It was going to be simply horrible getting all of the baby weight off, especially if she continued to laze around like she was doing, and she knew the painful awkwardness of getting used to the changes her body was going to be rapidly going through was going to be just fantastic.

Her breasts were going to continue to grow -as if she hadn't already been insecure about the curvaceousness of her body- and her skin was going to become more and more sensitive, which probably wouldn't help with any of her mood swings, and all of this would probably be taken out on poor Naruto.

She just hated what this pregnancy was doing to her mood and even the way she thought and she hated the way that when she happened to lash out Naruto never once complained or tried to talk her out of it, just allowing her to take out her frustrations on him so that she could calm down. She hated the way that everyone was taking a personal interest into the child as if it were their own and she hated the way they continued to crowd her and coddle her as if she were some precious doll. She hated her mood, she hated the villagers, she hated the fact that the only thing people saw her as now was a vessel for the _grand_ Hokage's first child, and she certainly hated the fact that she had become so hateful because of everything and the hormones that were now controlling her every mood.

But she had to admit that she could never hate the look Naruto got on his face when he looked at her now and saw their future.

As if he knew she had been thinking of him Naruto entered the apartment, walking over to her and flopping onto the couch beside her, sprawling out in his usual carefree fashion. Since it was nowhere near time for his work-day to be over Hinata figured that he must have sneaked out of the office to be with her and escape work. Usually she would have scolded him for shirking his duties just to be with her, but she was simply too happy that he was there to care.

Sighing for what felt like the millionth time that day Hinata simply snuggled in close to Naruto, putting her head to rest on his shoulder and closing her eyes as she basked in the comfort of his presence.

"Something wrong?" He asked her, fidgeting slightly, his voice too wired to be normal. Hinata decided to ignore it and snuggled closer.

"Nothing much. I'm just feeling a little..." Bored? Annoyed? Spiteful? Impatient? "Tired. There's a little unhappy in there too."

"Why are you unhappy?" Naruto asked, alarmed. Hinata shook her head at him and rubbed a hand soothingly up and down his arm, assuring him with her touch that nothing was wrong.

"It's just a mood, Naruto. Probably just from being locked in here for so long." Naruto fidgeted for a few more moments and Hinata looked up to see him pulling his "thinking face". Waiting for him to come to whatever decision he was headed towards, Hinata practically fell inelegantly off of the couch when Naruto jumped up.

"Alright!" He declared, grabbing her hand and giving her a tug so that she was standing beside him, keeping his hold on her so that he dragged her to the door to slip his shoes back on, crouching down to impatiently tug her flip-flops onto her feet when she didn't move to do so herself.

"Naruto? What are you doing?" He grinned up at her and then gracefully stood up, grabbing her hand again so that he could continue to tug on her, though this time it was to outside.

"It's a surprise." Hinata blinked and tried to pull him to a stop, realizing suddenly that she was in a thin lounging shirt and sweatpants with her flip-flops, her hair pulled back into a sloppy ponytail. Not exactly the picture of the elegant Hokage's wife that people wished upon her, especially since she was being tugged through the streets by her husband, stumbling as she tried to keep up with his hurried pace.

"Naruto! I'm a mess! Can't whatever all of this is about wait until I get dressed?" Seeing some of the people in the streets turning as they hurried by Hinata felt a mortified blush spread over her cheeks, and she wondered if there was a convenient rock nearby for her to curl up under so that she could just die.

"Nope! And you look great, you always do." Hinata shook his unbelievable assurances away with a negative shake of her head, mentally cursing as her flip-flops continued to prove that they were not the best choice in footwear for running through the streets like hooligans.

Hinata decided that it would be best to remain silent until she saw this "surprise" of Naruto's, though this decision was immediately forfeited when, after they went out the village gates, he started to tug her into the trees.

"No! Naruto, I do not have the right shoes on to go walking into the woods." Hinata watched as Naruto paused and looked down at her feet, feeling relieved at the nod he gave. That nod meant that they could go home. That nod meant that she could get back before anyone else could see her and just forget about the whole thing. That nod-

Hinata had to hold back a yelp as Naruto suddenly reached down and effortlessly scooped her up, one of his arms going beneath her knees as the other curled around her back and side, carrying her as if she were light as a feather as he began his little walk through the trees.

"Naruto! What-"

"Hush," He interrupted her, his voice still light but holding a seriousness that told her to listen to him, "Just trust me, okay?" Hinata stared up at his face for a moment after the words had faded from the air before nodding, closing her eyes as she curled into Naruto's chest and laid her head onto his shoulder.

They continued on for over half an hour until Naruto stopped, setting Hinata onto her feet as she blinked around her, not quite understanding.

They were in the middle of a sizable clearing, the thick trees circling around them and giving them their own screen of privacy. It was beautiful and peaceful but Hinata didn't understand why they were there.

"Naruto?" She said questioningly, turning to look at the blonde haired man.

"It's mine." He said simply, as if it was the answer to all of the questions that her eyes were asking him, and Hinata blinked at him and waited for him to elaborate. "Jiraiya-sensei apparently bought it so that he could put up some kind of pervert club or something outside of Konoha and away from baa-chan, and when he died it was left to me along with all of his other stuff in his will. I've just let it sit here since I haven't had anything to do with it, but the other day I had this idea." He nodded to himself and grinned, spreading his arms wide.

"Welcome home."

Hinata stared at him for a moment before looking around, trying to figure it out. "Um... What?" Naruto flashed his grin at her again, motioning around the clearing.

"Well, I had this idea that since we're going to be a family we'd need a house. I know the walk here was pretty long, but there's actually a shorter path that goes right into the village and it's only about a ten minute walk. I just wanted to take you the longer way around the first time."

"Naruto..." Hinata started, unsure of what to make of everything, but Naruto shook his head at her.

"Hey, hold on a minute and listen! You see, I figure that we'll need a pretty big house because kids like bigger houses, right? Right here," He said going over to some seemingly random spot, "Is where we can put the living room. Here's where a hallway will be and this is where I was going to put the kitchen. And over here-" He continued on and on, telling her about what he saw for them, standing in this spot years from now, that would house their family.

His face was lit up like a child's at Christmas as he dashed here and there, telling her about how he had been getting together with Yamato and how they were going to start building it soon and what they would do. He told her about the stairs and about the floors and about the windows, and Hinata nearly felt like crying.

He was building her a sanctuary.

He had seen how everything had been affecting her and had seen how close she was to breaking, and so he was giving her a place where she could escape from it all and just have some peace and quiet. The long walk up the path had been to show her how far away they were from anyone who didn't know about the second path and had shown her how safe she would be from the meddling old women who constantly "dropped by" to check on her as if she was a member of their family and not someone they had just personally met.

Hinata looked around again and instead of seeing an empty clearing she saw everything he was describing to her, everything he was lovingly giving to her as if it were nothing.

"-And the yard is going to be big for playing and training and everything else so that we can teach the kids ourselves and even practice with each other when we're bored. I also figured there could be like this garden right over here and-"

"I love it." Hinata interrupted him, smiling tearfully at him when he turned to face her –stupid hormones. "It's… perfect."

"Really?" He asked her, practically glowing from the joy of her praise. Letting out a short laugh Hinata nodded and wrapped her arms around herself, looking around and seeing every wonderful piece of the picture Naruto had just painted her. It really was going to be perfect.

Hinata laughed again when Naruto dashed over and picked her up, swinging her in a circle as he kissed her noisily and happily at where he later told her the front door of their home would stand.

* * *

Yep, I figured that it was about time to tell you guys the whole thing about their house, and yes, I know Naruto isn't an architect. He just knows what he wants and is having someone knowledgable about everything (I'm thingking it would be Yamato) putting it together.

And yes, Hinata had quite a few unhappy little moment's when she was pregnant with Kori (can you imagine being pregnant with everyone, even people you had never even seen before, acting like they deserved to have a say in it and forcing themselves and their ideas onto you? I'd be hitting some people.)

But she deals with it and becomes quite happy.

Love you all! *Makes Kissy faces*


	59. A Mother's Fears, NejiTen

Man, Kathy just won't shut up. I guess it's to make up for the time she was gone.

Sleep... I've forgotten what that feels like... Sounds like it would be nice though.

This one is in honor of everyone in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut who has been effected by the tragedy of loosing twenty-eight of their friends and family. I meant to write it earlier but...

Well, it's here now.

* * *

Tenten walked slowly and silently down the familiar hallway, her head down as she thought over everything and nothing.

Her thoughts were a senseless jumble, twisting and twining with one another, crashing into each other in a wild and deafeningly silent cacophony that she couldn't make sense of. But all thought and movement came to a halt when she found herself in front of one of the doors in the hall, the one that was covered in flower stickers and a sloppily written sign proudly declaring who the room belonged to.

Bringing up her hand she pressed it to the door, seeking the warmth that currently slept on the other side, the light and joy that the wood held at bay.

Tenten meant to continue on to her room to wait for her husband's return, meant to take her hand away and turn to leave the peace undisturbed, but instead she found herself silently pushing open the door and slipping in.

The room was so achingly perfect and untouched that Tenten felt her breath catch in her throat. The pink walls and the light wood floor, the white furniture and the flowery curtains that currently sealed the world away from this tiny slice of heaven. There was a doll house in the corner that still held a happy little family in the middle of a meal, and scribbly pictures about anything and everything were taped to the walls.

It was a girly girl's room, of that there was no doubt. Tenten sometimes wondered how her daughter had turned out the way she was when she was constantly surrounded by fighting and weapons and the other various forms of violence that came with a ninja's life, but she didn't bother questioning it too often. There was absolutely no need to question how utterly perfect the currently sleeping child was.

She was lying back on her bed covered with the white sheets, a soft knitted pink blanket –only barely big enough to cover the petite four year old- cuddled close, her thick black hair fanning over the pillow. Dolls and stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes surrounded her as if guarding her in her sleep, dozens upon dozens of them housed safely in bed with Rin.

She was the little princess, utterly spoiled by both of her doting parents so much that it was almost ridiculous. They saw something and bought it for her, just wanting to see that delighted and angelic smile light up her face and making her beautiful wide white eyes shine. Tenten supposed that they really should stop before they gave the girl the idea that she could have whatever she wanted when she wanted it, but she was their sweet little angel and she was still a baby yet. There was no need to rush things, no need to say no just yet.

Especially not with what she had just learned.

The woman silently walked over and sat in the rocking chair that she had once upon a time rocked a newly born baby in, picking up the rag doll that dug into her hip and holding it in her hands. And sitting there, she just watched her child as she slept, listening to her deep breaths the girl took as if they were the most soothing of lullabies.

She tried not to think about it but her mind was obsessed with it, insisting that she think about it. Insisting that she worry about it.

They had gotten the news in the early morning before Rin had even woken up, news of an attack. A terrible, monstrous attack. Naruto had immediately sent aid and Neji had insisted on going along with them while Tenten insisted on staying and guarding her child and her home from the evil of the backlash. The report she had gotten only minutes ago had said that there were nearly thirty dead, God knew how many others wounded both mentally and physically. She had heard that the bastard who had done it felt no remorse, gave no apologies for the lives he had stolen or for the evil that he was.

They had been children. They had only been goddamned children.

Looking at the peacefully sleeping form of her daughter Tenten couldn't even perceive the pain that the parents of those children would be going through. If it had been Rin, if her child had so viciously been taken from her like that, Tenten knew that after torturing the bastard who had done it to death she would simply want to curl up in a ball and die from the pain that would shred her soul.

God… How much longer could they continue to protect Rin from the evils that filled the world? From the dangers and the risks? And it wasn't just the ninja lifestyle either, though the thought of sending her baby out to face the same extreme dangers she faced scared her right to her core. It was the demons that shifted in people's souls and reared their ugly heads so effortlessly. It was the twisted evil of the people she saw every day –complete strangers on the street- that terrified her the most.

If something like what had happened in that other village happened in Konoha, how could she even hope to protect her?

Neji silently stepped into the room and their eyes met through the darkness, and Tenten could almost feel the knife that had appeared suddenly in her heart twist at the pained and darkened look in her husband's eyes.

So many innocents taken, so much blood spilled.

Tenten felt the tears well up and fought them with a silent curse. She had never been this emotional before being a mother, before holding her entire world in her arms and feeling the desperate need to protect it no matter the cost.

Tenten stood up and walked across the room to Neji, leaning her forehead against his as they closed their eyes and sent prayers up to whatever God would listen. They were prayers of thanks for sparing their family of this horror, prayers of sorrow for the little lost souls, prayers for the families and prayers for the other children to be spared from the nightmares that would haunt them for years.

Leaning back and brushing away the single tear that had escaped Tenten walked over to the peacefully slumbering form of her daughter, tucking in the little rag doll in beside her before pressing a light kiss to her forehead, brushing a strand of hair gently away from her face. Neji came over and did the same and Tenten was struck by a moment of panic.

Soon they wouldn't be able to do this. One day, a day that was coming increasingly closer, Rin would be taught to be alert at all times, even in her sleep, and they'd never be able to kiss her goodnight as she slept peacefully and unknowingly. That innocence, that peacefulness, would be lost forever.

Were they doing the right thing?

Closing her eyes against the doubts Tenten offered her hand to Neji so that they could make their way to their own room.

She didn't know if they were doing the right thing or not, and she certainly didn't think they'd be able to protect her for too much longer, but she knew that they had to try as hard as they could for as long as possible.

Because there was far too much evil in the world, far too much pain and tears for her to ever hope to protect Rin forever. She could only hope to make her strong, to make her tough enough to stand against it all on her own.

And hope that the fear didn't cripple her.

* * *

So, I'm saying that something similar happened in the Naruto world, just without the guns since there are no guns in the Narutoverse.

Also... we're going to get off of the serious part here and go into something else that I must share (Warning, there are spoilers for the manga ahead. If you are not caught up please do not read.)

How dare Kishimoto kill my Neji. Not that he's a favorite character of mine or anything like that, but still... Kind of pisses me off and makes me want to cry.

How could he do that to poor Hinata? And Naruto? Bad Kishimoto, bad!

But... my Fangirl heart has been sent squealing as well with the past couple chapters.

NaruHina! There's some definite NaruHina! First, when everyone shows up, Hinata's is the only name Naruto says, and then there's Kiba's teasing (Not as big, but still). And then Neji entrusted Hinata to Naruto.

Good Kishimoto, good.

Oh, and I have a new little darling!:

salemboy94- Oh, you're just so sweet you make me blush! Stop it! (Please, do not stop. My ego loves it) I'll try and get to the wedding idea as soon as possible (no promises that it will be out anytime soon though)

See you soon my darlings!


	60. Page 73, KakaSaku

This one is for a guest who visited and commented on one of my KakaSaku chapters:

**"...How about a story about those secret dates they [Kakashi and Sakura] had while on a mission."**

And dear little guest, even though I don't know who you are I did as you asked because I love all my darling little readers and I liked the idea, and Kathy seemed to as well.

* * *

Sakura stared out the window of the little run-down motel she was currently staying in for her mission, watching as the faceless people wandered around the nameless street as they went about their normal, everyday day. She was slightly envious of them and the way they were able to so easily do as they wished while she was stuck in a dinky little rook with a man who was busy ignoring her and wouldn't let her leave. Turning her head she glared at said man, narrowing her eyes at his lazily reclining form.

"I'm hungry." She said, but if she expected a response it certainly wasn't forthcoming. Beginning to pout Sakura turned all the way around, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against the window frame.

"Kakashi, did you hear me? I said that I was hungry." Kakashi grunted this time, but he still refused to look up from the pages of his favored _Icha Icha. _

"I heard you, but I just don't see what you want me to do about it."

"Take me somewhere to eat, obviously." She snapped at him, her patience thin from being locked in the teeny tiny room with no amusement other than talking to her unresponsive lover who was not her lover on missions since he said that relationships got in the way of missions. And she agreed with this completely, but boredom was just as troublesome as feelings.

"No." He answered while continuing to keep his eyes glued onto the pages of his book, not looking up when Sakura stomped her foot or when she strode angrily over to the side of the bed he was laying on.

"Kakashi, I'm bored and when I get bored I get dangerous, so you better take me out somewhere to eat."

"No."

"Kakashi..." She hissed, clenching her hands into fists before she suddenly relaxed, an idea coming to her.

"Kakashi, you know page 73 of _Icha Icha Tactics_, right?" Kakashi's eyes finally flicked up to her as his eyebrows rose in interest, his book lowering just the slightest bit.

"I'm familiar with it."

Sakura nodded before silently pointing to Kakashi and then at herself and then at the bed.

A muscle began to twitch beside Kakashi's eye as he obviously fought with himself over what to do. On one hand he didn't believe in mixing sex and missions unless sex was the mission, but on the other Sakura was standing in front of him offering him one of his top fifteen favorite _Icha Icha _scenes.

Really, there was no reason to even think it over.

His book was closed with a definitive _snap_ and he was off of the bed in a flash, but Sakura's hand meeting his chest to hold him off made him pause.

"_Only_ after you take me out to diner." She told him, watching as his shoulders slumped forward with a sigh.

Smiling brightly now Sakura cheerfully opened the door, practically bouncing as she made her way out of the terrible little motel and to the street, linking arms with Kakashi so that they walked side by side.

"Oh, and you're buying." She informed him, earning an aggravated glare from the cheap man.

"And why would I be doing that?" He grumbled as the young girl persistently pulled him along, and when she looked up she sent a veiled look at him through her eyelashes.

"Because I promised you page 73, but that promise only applies if I get something to eat and I just so happened to leave my money back at the motel." This earned her another glare but she was really too happy to care and she knew that Kakashi would be more than happy after they ate and then got back to the room.

Especially after they had gotten back to the room.

She normally wouldn't have been this happy to get out of the room and get something to eat, no matter how bored or hungry she was, but she kind of looked at this as a kind of date -though she'd never tell Kakashi that. She understood that their relationship was more or less about sex and friendship instead of feelings, but still, she could want a date every now and then if she wanted to. She wasn't some cheap floozy.

She supposed that since she was bribing Kakashi into paying and that this would be one of the few times that he ever would she should probably abuse it by going somewhere outrageously expensive, and she was going to do just that until a particular scent caught her nose. Turning her head she saw a happy little sign that immediately made her stomach rumble.

She started to tug Kakashi towards the little stand and as soon as the man saw where she was taking him he rolled his eyes at her. "Dango, Sakura? This is what you dragged me out here for?" Sakura ignored him and his condescending tone and instead sat down on one of the stools, patting the one next to her for Kakashi to sit down.

"I'll have an order of anko with syrup, please. And what do you want to have, Kakashi?" She asked him, both her and the cook turning to stare at him as he sat there stoically.

"Well, I'd like to be back in the room having-" He was cut off by a sudden and vicious kick from Sakura under the counter as she smiled dangerously sweetly at him.

"Oh? What was that now?" Kakashi, seeing how desperately close he was to loosing any chance he had at experiencing page 73 with her, cleared his throat and crinkled his visible eye at the girl beside him.

"I was saying that I'd have some teppanyaki." He said and Sakura nodded.

"That's what I thought you were saying." She murmured sweetly.

* * *

I had a lot of trouble trying to decide what they would eat, so I did as I always do when I'm trying to figure something out relating to Naruto: I went to Wiki.

Apparently one of Sakura's favorite dishes is the anko with syrup, so then I had to google and figure out what Kakashi would order, which is difficult because it isn't specific over what Kakashi likes, only that he dislikes sweet and fried foods.

(anko- has red bean paste, teppanyaki- Dango on a stick with a tangy taste (do you know how hard it was deciding this? Apparently most dango likes to be sweet. Stupid dango.))

xaburame15- Gasp! My sweet baby! Are you alright you poor, poor thing? Allow the power of my love to aide you in getting better!

Hektols- Thank you for the hope, and yeah, I can see them pulling another stunt like they did after the invasion of Pain.

Good bye, my darlings! You shall forever be in my hearts as I persist on writing the next chapters!


	61. Home with You, KakaSaku

Just a little something totally different than what I wanted to type because obviously when I want one thing Kathy has to hit me upside the head with a tire iron and force me to do something completely different.

Oh, how I simply _adore _my muse.

* * *

Kakashi came into the apartment silently, thinking of the warmth and comfort of the bed that waited for him just a few steps away, imagining of the blissful sleep that he would find with it. He was stopped by the lamp that was oddly lit beside the couch even though it was well past three in the morning. Sakura always turned off all of the lights before she went to bed, so it was strange for her to forget about one of them.

Walking around the couch he saw the sleeping form of his wife curled up on the cushions, one of her paperback mysteries crumpled on the floor from where her lax hand had obviously dropped it.

Pakkun -who had been keeping guard over the pink haired woman from his favorite armchair- lifted his head to nod at Kakashi, lowering his head again so that he could get back to sleep, his personal guard duty done now that Kakashi was back.

Smiling at the unladylike snore Sakura let loose Kakashi crouched down, lightly brushing away a strand of hair that had fallen forward to drape over her face, still surprised at how deeply Sakura was able to sleep in her pregnancy.

Glancing down to the noticeable mound of her stomach, Kakashi still couldn't quite believe it. He and Haruno -Hatake now- Sakura, the loud mouthed, easily angered crybaby from team seven.

He hadn't really had any feelings towards her when team seven had first formed all those years ago, he had only noted that she was the weaker of the three and was obviously more emotional what with the constant crying and screaming and falling over herself to please Sasuke. She had been determined, however, and was quite intelligent and observant when her little childhood crush wasn't around being his usual unfeeling self.

He had been surprised when she had went to Tsunade to begin training as a medic-nin, but after that slight initial shock he had understood and had been a bit proud. She wanted to become stronger, wanted to become someone who would aid Naruto and save Sasuke, wanted to become a better ninja and a better person.

And she had.

The years had passed and their little team had gotten back together minus Sasuke, and Sai had been added. And though some might have seen him as a replacement and though Sakura and Naruto may have resented him at first, Kakashi had been thankful for him.

Because of Sai his two students hadn't become so solely focused on Sasuke and obsessed with him to the point of madness. He had been aggravating and strange, but Sai had saved the two of them from falling over into the abyss, although it had been unknowingly.

Kakashi had been proud of his two students, had been proud of how they had handled themselves in the war and had been proud of how they had handled not coming back with Sasuke. Because even though he could see that their hearts were shattered and that they mourned, they did not allow that gaping chasm of depression to overpower them.

Sakura had thrown herself into work after that, however, and it had been a rare event to see her out and about those first two years. But one day he had looked up and she had been there and he had had to take a second look.

She had changed in those two years. It wasn't that her looks had matured -she had still been the same little flat chested thing he had remembered- but that _she_ had somehow managed to mature. She wasn't some little crybaby girl that he could write off anymore but was a fully grown woman, and a fully grown woman that he couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of.

He had told himself that it was sick, that she was his ex-student and fourteen years younger than him and if he even _thought _about making some sort of move towards her that it would make him some kind of pedophile. Sure, the teacher-student scenes in the books he read were good reading, but there was no way that any of those things could ever come true, not with him and Sakura. He simply couldn't be thinking of her like that.

And yet slowly all of the characters in his books had changed, their hair had turned bright pink and their eyes had turned pale green, and he had cursed himself and her every time he had woken up after dreaming about her, fantasizing about her.

One day when he had secretly been looking at her from behind the pages of his ever present book he had caught her glancing at him with a heated and curious look in her eyes, a look that said that she wanted to be a part of every single moment of the fantasies that had been dancing around in his head. And at that moment he had realized that no matter how much he had tried to ignore it, no matter how much he pretended that he didn't feel anything other than a teacher's affection for his pupil towards her, the tension that throbbed between them was obviously going to explode.

And the night of Hinata and Naruto's engagement party, both of them loosened by too much alcohol, it had. Truth be told he hadn't really been all that drunk that night, and he was able to remember every achingly sensual detail with a sharp clarity that managed to slam him in the chest and leave him breathless every time he recalled it.

When he had woken up with her curled up beside him he hadn't thought of getting her out of their as soon as he possibly could or any of the other little thoughts that would have flown through his head after he had woken up beside a woman after a night of sex. All he could think about was how he was going to get her tied to the bed so they could have a little repeat of the night before.

He had waited for her to say something when she had first woken up, waited for her to do all the usual girly feeling stuff that she had exhibited throughout the time he had known her, but to his surprise she had simply rolled right out of the bed and away from him. When she had come back out he had expected things to go a bit differently than they had, so the fact that she merely wanted for them to move on from it and pretend like it had never happened had certainly shocked him.

And then she was leisurely making her way out the door as if it were just that easy to move on from him and act like their night together hadn't changed anything.

He had allowed her to pretend and had gone along with the little charade, watching as the tension in the clueless girl had been strung so tight that she was close to breaking before he decided it was the perfect time to make his move. A few strategic cuts and his usual aversion to hospitals was all he had needed, though he hadn't really expected the damn kunai to be poisoned. That had certainly almost set his plans back a few notches.

But when he had woken up and found her in that tiny little kitchen of hers he had found that he had just enough strength in him to get his point across the clueless little pink haired girl's mind- that she was his and she wasn't going to escape that fact so easily.

He hadn't expected their relationship to last as long as it had, but the feelings he had expected to fade after a few months had only continued to grow until one day he had realized that he couldn't imagine living without her, and he had slowly tried to get her used to the idea of him and her being more than just some stolen sensual nights. But that girl -that stupid, _stupid _girl- had made sure that their relationship stayed solely between the two of them and his ninken, always making pathetic excuses as for why.

That had succeeded in pissing him off in a way that hadn't been accomplished in more years than he could count.

But he had managed to keep a level head and come up with a plan, one that would definitely get him killed if she ever found out.

He understood that purposely getting Sakura pregnant without her permission or knowledge was wrong and that there might have been other ways to go about the situation, but in his eyes at that moment what he had done had been the only thing to do.

It had taken weeks and he had been unsure if it was even going to work. What if he was sterile -it wasn't like he had ever tried to get anyone pregnant before, he usually spent his time making sure that little Hatakes weren't going to be running around- or what if she was? What if it wasn't going to work and there was really no way to assure that she remained his? But one day he had gone over to her apartment and she had told him the news and he was suddenly so incredibly elated that he wasn't sure that he would be able to hide it from her.

He had never wanted a family, never wanted those unseverable ties or those emotions that went along with it. But when she had told him that she was pregnant and that she wanted to keep it, all he could think about was how utterly wonderful it was, and looking down at the frightened girl a sudden protective instinct -trampling every other emotion he had ever known- filled him and screamed out from withing him that_ this_ was the family he hadn't been aware of wanting.

He had said that they were going to get married knowing that she would instantly deny him, also knowing that she would say yes to moving in with his since it would seem like a more trivial matter when compared to marriage. Of course, he had always known that it wouldn't take him all that long to get her to actually marry him.

He supposed that to others it would look like his actions had been devious and were to be condemned, especially when it was looked at along side the taboo of it all having been with his ex-student, but he loved her so completely and overwhelmingly that he was willing to do anything -be it underhanded or sly- to keep her with him. And he knew that she loved him the same but had been too scared that he would somehow leave her and hurt her like Sasuke had to even think about a commitment -something that, if broken, could have crippled her.

But he had her now and he never planned on letting her go, not her or the child that was growing inside of her.

With a grunt Kakashi shoved himself back up and slipped his arms beneath her so that he could lift her up, carrying her to their bedroom as she blearily came back into the land of the living.

"Kakashi...? Wha?" She mumbled, lifting her head to fuzzily blink at him.

"Nothing," He murmured, "Just go back to sleep." Lowering her eyelids so that only the tiniest sliver of her green eyes were visible she nodded before lowering her head once more to his shoulder, burring her face into his neck.

"You smell bad." She muttered, "Take a bath." And having had the final say in the matter she quickly found herself back asleep. Chuckling deep in his throat Kakashi shook his head at the girl as he laid her down on the bed, tugging the blanket over her before going into the bathroom to quickly wash off the mission smell as Sakura had bid him to.

Crawling into the bed beside his wife Kakashi curled protectively around her sleeping form, closing his eyes and slipping into the blissful sleep that he could only find when he was beside her.

* * *

Oh, and this one was for Hana Lee, who seems to be quite the KakaSaku fan. Hello my darling!

Few little things to my other little darlings-

Hektols- Thank you for catching that, my sweet heart! As soon as I looked back on that I had a huge_ "Should have had a V8"_ moment. I immediately went back and changed that. (If anyone ever catches any mistakes or any words that just don't set quite right, please tell me. I try as hard as I can to find all of my mistakes but some always manage to slip past me)

Seashells1000- Oh, third time already? That just makes me feel positively fantabulous. And as for the similar one-shots umm... _Destined _by _ichilover3 _is a small series of one-shots based on his earlier story _Into The Future (_I highly recommend this story if you want a good laugh). We ship the same pairings and I find it all very humorous (in a silly sort of way)

And can I just mention how much I simply adore Salemboy94 again? No? Well I'm going to anyways.

You are, quite simply, one of the sweetest little things ever. I just want to hug you and cuddle you and give you a big cookie that I bought (because I couldn't bake cookies even if my life depended on it) filled with love and happiness and little rainbows. Since I have given my crown away to my other dearest little darling I now bequeath to you the cloak of Terrificness and cooliosity. (It is also faux-fur lined and makes you invisible)

And as I said to this precious little dumpling (this is me trying to come up with new little nicknames so that I won't be too redundant. I'm not really feeling it): I take all the ideas given to me into consideration because that means you felt strongly enough towards my story to do so, and it it one of the greatest compliments I receive. You giving me permission to write out an idea of yours is you entrusting me with a piece of your imagination and thoughts, and that is something so precious and I cherish every single one given to me. So please, do not be afraid to give me your ideas.

I love you all so much I actually wrote this chapter out at my family Christmas party (couldn't post it though, the WiFi was wacky)! See you soon!

I wonder how much longer I'm going to be able to ride this wave of inspiration.


	62. Kiss Me Goodnight, NaruHina

As your ever dutiful and beloved writer I was up well past one in the morning last night writing this when I finally looked up at Kathy and said, "You know what, screw you. I want some sleep and there will be plenty of time to write tomorrow." And so I walked up stairs with my rebel swag and got some much needed and beloved sleep.

When I came back downstairs this morning I found that Kathy had gone, leaving me alone. But I thought that since I had gotten my sleep that I could write even if she wasn't there. It wasn't that big of a deal.

Oh, how wrong I was.

I sat at my computer for _hours _until she finally came back and looked my crying pitiful form up and down with a sneer and told me that if I tried to disobey her again I'd pay.

Never. Never again. It was terrible.

Well, here you are! All finished and pretty, just for you!

* * *

Hinata nibbled on her lip nervously as she tried to talk herself into doing... something. Looking down at the small silver key in her hand she told herself that it would be perfectly easy to just lift up that key, slip it in the little hole and turn it to let herself into the little apartment. So easy to do, so simple and yet the little key felt as if it weighed two tons in her hand.

A few weeks before Naruto had been sent on a long mission and had given her the key after asking her to come in and water the few little plants he kept, and she had happily accepted, blushing and stuttering the whole time. Of course, she hadn't really known what to expect when she had first stepped into his apartment, but it certainly hadn't been what she had found.

To kindly call it untidy had been a generous thing, and soon enough Hinata found herself tidying everything up- throwing out the expired foods from his fridge, washing forgotten dishes, throwing away old and empty ramen containers, picking up discarded clothes from the floor. She had had a few bad moments such as when she had picked up a pair of Naruto's boxers and had only just barely stopped herself from fainting, but when she had last left the apartment it had been tidy and the plants had been dutifully watered.

It had only been when news of Naruto's arrival back into town had reached her that she realized that Naruto might take what she had done as a serious invasion of his privacy and might very well be justifiably mad about it. So Hinata had been avoiding the blond boy for the past week until a little rumor had tickled her ear about Naruto not being seen since he had first arrived.

What if something had happened to him?

What if he was hurt?

What if he was sick?

What if he got hurt and then got sick because he was hurt?

And so with these thoughts swimming in her head she had made the decision to come back to the apartment and abuse her power as the only other person to have the key to Naruto's apartment to check in on him. But now that she was standing in front of his door she just couldn't figure out what she wanted to do. What if he looked at her coming into his apartment without his say so as an even bigger offense than her cleaning out his apartment? What if he was just so mad that he'd want her to leave as soon as he saw her?

She was about to turn and leave at these thoughts until she remembered that Naruto could very well be sick and dying in there alone and she could be the only hope of saving him.

Quickly gathering her strength she inserted the key into the lock and twisted, letting herself in just in time to see Naruto -a towel slung low across his hips, droplets of water dusting his skin and weighing down some of his hair- stepping out of the bathroom.

They both froze in place and stared wide eyed at eachother for a few breathless moments until Hinata's face flushed a violent shade of red and she quickly whipped around, a strangled '_eep_ 'of shock falling from her lips.

"Hinata! Are you okay? What- Oh God, I don't have any clothes on. Hold on a minute, okay?" He shouted as he started to rustle around in a dresser, sending desperate looks at Hinata through his open bedroom door to make sure she didn't faint and bust her head open. The shade of red her face had turned had been darker than anything he had seen before and he wasn't all that certain that his girlfriend was okay.

"I-I-I'm f-fine, N-Naruto-kun." Hinata managed to stammer, holding onto the doorknob and lucidity with a deathlike grip. Her knees were so weak that they were only just able to hold her up and she wasn't certain if it was a warning sign of her fainting or if it was from just how amazingly sexy the sight she had just seen was.

Naruto, almost naked, water droplets covering him with this one little droplet slowly trailing down his chest and his abs, getting closer and closer to the towel and-

Hinata's face flushed impossible redder and her knees finally gave out on her as her eyes rolled back into her head, and she fell back into the strength and security of Naruto's arms.

"Hinata? Hinata, hey, come on back now." Naruto calmly said as he lightly shook the girl, wondering if he should splash water on her face or something. He had heard somewhere that that worked.

"Hinata?" He called to her again, watching as her eyelashes fluttered up slowly to reveal her bleary white eyes. "Naruto?" She murmured, blinking her eyes clear as another blush dusted her cheeks, this one thankfully less severe.

"I-I'm sorry." She muttered as Naruto helped her sit up, averting her eyes from him. "I... I d-didn't mean to i-intrude. I was just w-worried since I-I haven't seen you s-since you g-got back." Naruto grinned at her, happy to see that she was back to normal, and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, sorry. I've been with Baa-chan going over everything that went on during my mission." Looking away from the girl to give her the necessary time to compose herself Naruto looked around his little apartment, noting how clean and organized everything was.

"Hey, did you clean the place while I was gone?" Hinata hesitantly nodded her head, looking at Naruto through the veil of her bangs.

"Ah... Y-Yes. S-Sorry th-that I-I-" Naruto shook his head to cut the girl off and smiled at her.

"Hey, it's not like I'm mad. I should probably actually be thanking you since I've never actually seen the place looking this good, so thanks." Hinata's blush grew pleasantly deeper as she ducked her head a little bit, smiling at the blonde warmly.

"Y-You're welcome." She said, her eyes widening as another thought occurred to her. "O-Oh, here. I-I should probably g-give this back to you now." She murmured as she held out his key to him, becoming confused as Naruto shook his head at her.

"Nah, it's okay. You can keep it."

"B-But-"

"I want you to keep it, that way you can come over whenever you want to. But we'll have to make sure I'm wearing clothes the next time." He said, laughing at the blush that grew all the way to the tips of her ears as she remembered.

"Hey, have you eaten?" He asked her, grinning and jumping up off of the floor when she shook her head, holding out a hand so that he could help her up. "Then lets head over to Ichiraku's and get something to eat and you can tell me what's been going on since I've been gone."

Hinata smiled gently at him and nodded, secretly thrilled when he didn't let go of her hand and continued the hold as they made their way to Naruto's favorite place to eat, content to simply listen to him talk and bask in the warmth that his presence always made her feel.

As he walked her back to the Hyuuga compound Hinata couldn't help but wish that there was something else to do or something more she could say so that they could be together for even that much longer. She just loved being beside him, watching how animated he was when he talked and listening to the sound of his voice. She wanted him to continue to hold her hand so gently and yet so strongly and she wanted for him to keep on giving her those little looks that she had only ever hoped to get from him before.

They stopped just a little before they got to the gates of the compound and Hinata lifted her face to Naruto's for the goodnight kiss they had ritualistically been having for the past few dates. As always a delicious little thrill spread through her when Naruto's face lowered and his lips gently brushed her's, and she breathe out a gentle sigh at just how... wonderful everything was.

And then, slowly, the kiss changed into something new.

The pressure of his lips against her's remained unchanged as he tilted his head slightly, one of his battle roughened hands coming up to cup the side of her neck, his thumb lightly brushing over her fluttering pulse. Hinata's lips parted on another gasp and taking this as an invitation Naruto slipped his tongue into her mouth, increasing the pressure of his mouth on hers ever so slightly.

Hinata froze for a moment, unsure of what she wanted to do, what she _should_ do. It wasn't like she was used to kisses like this, she had had a hard enough time getting used to the light pecks hey gave eachother without fainting as soon as she got into her room. What did she do? How did a kiss like this go? How-

And then when Naruto's tongue lightly touched with hers she discovered that this was all it took to have all the thoughts in her head simply fly away, leaving her completely open to freely accept the feelings and sensations that were making her head dizzy and light as a cloud.

Hinata hesitantly let her tongue brush with Naruto's, allowing him to guide her through the kiss as it became deeper and hotter, dragging her into a sea of warmth and wonder.

Naruto's hand left her neck to drift into her hair, threading his fingers through as his other hand went to her hip, pulling her the slightest bit closer. Hinata found herself being walked backwards until her back was pressed to the wood of the high fence, and the feeling of being pressed against that ungiving surface while Naruto pressed into her sent a heated tremor straight into her very core.

The kiss grew harder and hotter as Hinata's hands drifted up Naruto's chest and up to his shoulders, her hands gripping the soft cloth of his black T-shirt and the steady strength of his muscles as she tried to keep her legs from collapsing out from under her. Her knees had grown so weak that she wasn't even sure that they were there anymore, and Hinata didn't know if this was a cause for alarm or another reason to simply melt into Naruto.

Naruto began to move as if to pull back, his one hand leaving her hair as his other began to ease from her hip and all Hinata could think about was how wonderfully amazing the kiss had been and about how it couldn't be ending. Not yet. She wasn't ready to go back to the real world so soon.

"...No." She gasped, wanting nothing more that to drag him back the few centimeters that were separating them and she was just about to do that when Naruto was no longer there, having jumped back to leave a good few feet of separation between them.

Hinata was still trying to puzzle out how he had managed to get that far away from her when she wanted nothing more than for him to stay against her when he thrust out a hand and grabbed hers, giving it a brief and confusing shake before he released it and managed to simply disappear before her wide eyes.

Hinata stared, wide eyed and shocked, at the spot where Naruto had only moments before been standing, leaning heavily against the wooden boards of the fence as she tried to get her panting breaths back under control.

Looking around as if she would be able to spot some kind of clue as to what had just happened Hinata managed to sink down to the ground, letting the wood against her back support her as her head swam from both the dizzying effects of the kiss and the confusion of Naruto's disappearance.

* * *

Hinata let herself into Naruto's apartment again, though this time there was less hesitation and far more determination.

Naruto had been trying his hardest to avoid her for the past week and it was both hurtful and angering. He never said a word to her and avoided even _looking_ at her, instead staring at random walls or even up at the sky until he was able to get away from her presence.

She hated it, hated the way everything had been so gloriously perfect the past few months and then she had done something -it had had to be her- to upset it all. And the only thing that came up when she thought it all over was that last kiss.

Maybe he hadn't liked it like she had, or maybe she had just been such a terrible disappointment at it. She had been absolutely clueless as to what to do and he had had to show her how, and maybe he thought that her cluelessness was annoying. Maybe he found her boring and dull and stupid and ugly and weak and everything else she had seen when she had looked into the mirror earlier.

Well, no matter what happened -no matter how torn her heart became or how broken her soul was left- she was going to face Naruto tonight and settle this new and unsettling turn everything had taken.

The apartment was empty when she stepped in so she went and sat on the little beat up couch, perching herself on the edge as she waited, steeling herself for the coming events.

A sudden flare of a familiar chakra signal flashed beside the window and Hinata sighed. "N-Naruto." She called as calmly as possible, her gut a swirling vortex of unease, "I-I know that y-you're there. Come in so w-we can talk." There were a few moments of still silence before the door creaked open, a sheepish Naruto peeking in around it.

"Ah... Hey."

"H-Hello." She replied, watching as he slowly slunk in and closed the door behind him, managing to look at anything and everything that wasn't her. Hinata had to wonder at how deep the crack in her heart would grow as the night wore on. Maybe it would simply shatter underneath the pressure of her mind numbing sorrow.

"I'm sorry." He suddenly blurted out, making her jerk back in surprise and forcing tears to pool in her eyes. This was it. He was breaking up with her.

"I've been really trying to hold back and everything since you're... you know, but it's just really hard. I mean, I traveled around with the most perverted guy that ever existed so I know a lot of stuff and I'm just now getting _a lot _of that stuff, and it's all towards you, so it's hard."

It hurt so much that she was going numb. All those years of loving him, all those wishes and prayers and he was just going to leave her like she had been nothing more than a phase. He was just going to walk out of her life like it was nothing and expect her to do the same, turning a blind eye to how deeply she bled.

"And I get the whole taking it slow thing and I want to go slow too! I promise! I guess I just got caught up in the heat of the moment and you were so cute that- Hinata! Why are you crying?! Are you alright?!" He was suddenly crouching down in front of her, grabbing her wrists gently, pulling her hands away from her face so that he could get a good look at her.

"B-Because y-you're breaking up w-w-with m-me!" She hiccuped, wishing that she could have at least gotten through it with a shred of dignity, even if it had been a tiny one.

"What?" Naruto gaped at her, releasing her wrists so that he could wipe her tears away, more rapidly flowing out past her guard to take their place. "What in the world gave you that stupid idea?"

Hinata hiccuped again and looked at the tear blurred form of Naruto, sniffling as she tried to figure out how all of this was coming together. Naruto seemed genuinely confused and worried so maybe, just maybe, he wasn't breaking up with her.

"W-Well i-it wasn't like you l-liked m-me in the f-first place a-and I'm n-not very pretty o-or strong a-and you've always loved S-Sak-kura..." She led off, not really wanting to confess the rest of her insecurities or worries, especially not when he was giving her a look that called her three different kinds of crazy.

"What are you talking about? Of course I like you! Do you think I would have been dating you these past few months if I _didn't _like you? I'm not that kind of person, Hinata. And you really need to stop saying those things about yourself, I mean, it's obvious to everyone else that you're pretty. You're the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen, even when you're crying! You're also one of the strongest people I know, what with everything you've been through and how hard you work. And Sakura... Yeah, I love Sakura but it's not the kind of love that you're thinking of. She's like my bossy sister, and it's that kind of love."

Hinata sniffled at him again as the last of her tears dried up. "R-Really?"

Naruto grinned up at her and grabbed one of her hands, lacing their fingers together comfortingly. "Yeah, really."

Hinata timidly smiled back at him until another thought struck her. "B-But what ab-bout the other night? W-When y-you left?" Hinata watched as Naruto blushed just the tiniest bit and looked away, averting his eyes from her almost as if he were embarrassed.

"Well, you see... Everyone has been warning me to take it really slow with you because... because. And I don't mind it, I really don't! Slow is good and easy and it gives us time to get used to each other. I like slow. But the other night I went too fast so when you told me to stop I thought that you were mad and-" Hinata stopped his hurried speech by pressing a finger to his lips, blushing furiously as she did so.

"I... ah, I w-wasn't telling y-you to st-stop." She managed, snatching her hand back before she gave into her desires and started tracing his lips with her finger.

"Then what was the 'no' for?" He asked her, growing even more confused as her blush grew more pronounced.

"I... I s-said _'N-No'_ b-because I didn't want y-you to stop." Hinata said, the final word coming out as a nearly silent whisper as she grew quieter and quieter with each syllable.

Naruto continued to stare at her -gape at her really- and Hinata started to nervously nibble on her lip, her blush deepening as she worried over what Naruto was thinking. Was she wrong to have wanted the kiss to keep on going? Was she wrong to have admitted that? Maybe he thought that she was loose now, and what if he didn't like her that way? Maybe he actually hadn't liked the kiss and had just been trying to spare her feelings.

Hinata bit her lip hard enough to draw blood and mentally gave herself a shake, telling herself that she needed to stop, that after what Naruto had just told her she needed to stop doubting him and stop doubting herself and for once in her life just... stop.

"N-Naruto-kun?" She asked hesitantly, squeezing his hand where it was still intertwined with hers, "I-Is something w-wrong?"

"Ah..." Naruto looked away from her and flushed adorably, clearing his throat. "You... Didn't want me to stop?" Hinata nodded and looked down at her lap, both of them avoiding each other's eyes as they thought over this new revelation.

"I-" Hinata started as she looked back up at him, wanting to break the silence that was rapidly growing thicker around them, only to be silenced herself when Naruto pressed his lips against hers.

For one heart-stopping moment Hinata was frozen in place from the shock but then Naruto's tongue lightly traced the seam of her lips and everything simply flew from her head as she opened up to him.

After what felt to be eons and yet only a few breathless seconds Naruto pulled back as far as Hinata's arms twisted around his neck would allow. They were laying on the little couch, Naruto on top of Hinata and pressing her down into the thin cushions, her legs parted to accommodate him, their panting breaths mixing as they stared into each others eyes.

"Wow." Naruto managed, grinning down at her. "That was... wow. I guess Ero-sennin's books were good for something."

"W-What?" She panted, looking up at him confused. It was a strange time to bring up his deceased teacher's books.

"Well, it's not like I go around kissing girls like this every day. I was kind of clueless until I remembered some of the stuff from his books." Hinata blinked at him and then blinked again, unsure of what to think about the fact that Naruto was taking instruction from a porn book. But then again, that meant that he was just as clueless about these things as she was, and that they would both be going through them the first time together.

The thought of them going through their firsts together sent a warm tingle through her blood.

"Y-Yeah." Hinata said, smiling up at him slightly, watching as his eyebrows knit together in confusion with amusement. His face was always just so expressive.

"Yeah what?" Hinata looked to the side and nibbled on her lip as she flushed, not noticing the way that Naruto's eyes immediately zeroed in on the innocent action.

"Y-Yeah... W-Wow."

Hinata jumped slightly when Naruto's head dropped down to her shoulder, and she looked down at him in concern when he sighed. "N-Naruto-kun?"

"You are way to cute for your own good." He muttered, moving so that he could bury his face into the curve where her shoulder and throat met. Hinata flushed a deeper shade of red and blinked rapidly up at the ceiling.

"W-W-What? N-Naru- Eep!" She gasped, flinching back. Naruto pulled back slightly from where he had nuzzled her throat lightly, a wicked grin twisting his face.

"You're ticklish?" He asked her, watching as she flushed impossibly brighter.

"N-No..." She said, gasping again when one of his fingers poked into her side. Suddenly she was wriggling and twisting, gasping and giggling girlishly as she tried to get away from his torturing hands. "N-Naruto! S-Stop!" She managed to choke out, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

Her hands went to his shoulders as she weakly tried to push him away, bucking up on another gasp as he found a particularly sensitive spot at her waist. Hinata tossed her head to the side and covered her mouth with one of her hands since she thought her giggles were unpleasantly high pitched, and her eyes caught on the clock in shock.

With another gasp -this one from shock- Hinata quickly utilized her skills as a ninja and flipped Naruto off of her so that he landed on the floor with a thud and a grunt. "I-I didn't know it w-was that late!" She gasped, jumping up off of the couch and grabbing her bag, looking down at Naruto apologetically.

"I-I'm s-sorry, Naruto-kun. I have to g-get back home." Naruto pushed himself up and grinned at her, waving her apology away easily.

"Nah, that's okay." Hinata nodded to his gratefully and quickly made her way to the door, hoping that she had just enough time to get back home before her curfew. But she paused just before she stepped out of the door, looking back at the blonde boy on the floor.

"W-Will I s-see you t-tomorrow?" She asked and Naruto nodded.

"Yeah. We can catch a movie or something." Hinata flushed pleasantly and smiled at him, her white eyes glowing.

As soon as the door closed behind her Naruto flopped back down on the floor with a groan, covering his eyes with one of his arms. "So cute." He muttered, the empty apartment's silence answering him sympathetically.

* * *

Okay, the part whole first make out scene? That actually happened to a friend of mine and her experience was the inspiration for this chapter. Apparently her and this boy she liked were making out on her couch when she said no like Hinata did and the boy jumped up off of her, shook her hand, said "Friends?" and left.

She said it was one of the most awkward moments of her life, and I thought it was absolutely hilarious.

I decided to make Hinata ticklish because I myself am extremely ticklish everywhere, my ankles in particular (strange place, I know). But all of my guy friends have this thing with tickling me, and last year I had science class with my friend Cory and we sat in the back with our other friends. I'd prop my legs up in his lap during class and one day he started to rub my ankles and... it was terrible. He wouldn't let go and by the end of class I had tears running down my face and marks from where I had pressed my hands over my mouth to stop from giggling like a nit-wit in the middle of class.

He calls it cute, I call it mortifying.

But it isn't like my ankles are easily accessible, so it's not that bad. If only I could cover my waist, stomach, legs, neck, throat and side as easily (Even my arms a little bit, but you have to know the right spots).

It's extremely difficult being me.

Few things from some comments-

1) No, I will not be following the storyline from the manga and killing Neji off. I'm kind of ignoring what happens in the manga unless I like it, and I have been since it showed Tsunade cut in half and dying.

2) Up until a little piece in the last chapter I've been putting off saying what happened to Sasuke in my story until it got to it in the manga, but since I don't like the whiny little emo I've decided to just have him be killed or something. (His clothes are stupid, he won't shut up about his stupid revenge, he's too stupid to care about anyone but for his brother (and he's so bipolar about his brother it's annoying), and his stupid brother fetish is annoying. He's annoying and I hate his face.)

Yes, he is quite literally the only character I can't stand in the series. Naruto should give up and Sakura should get over him (He won't because that's what makes him great and she won't because that's what makes her stupid.)

I love you all until eternity! See you soon!


	63. Acrobatics, KakaSaku

What's this? Did I just write a new chapter already? Only a few hours after my other one? And Did I just post it at 2 AM?

Yes. Yes I did.

* * *

"Daddy Daddy Daddy!" A small voice chirped out, forcing the great copy-nin to crack open his good eye from where he had been laying down on the couch, looking into the wide and excited pale green eyes of his three year old daughter. "Look it- Look at what I can do!" She gasped, quickly moving back a few tiny steps, looking to her father every few seconds to confirm that she held his undivided attention.

Crouching down the toddler planted her two small hands onto the floor, and as soon as Kakashi realized what the girl was doing he was instantly tensed and sitting up, prepared to leap up and grab her before any serious harm could befall her. Karin scrunched her face up determinedly and made as if to do the neat flips she had seen her parents doing, though she ended up just sort of twisting around her planted hands in a little half circle.

"See? Did you see it? I was just like Mommy!" She cried, her face flushed with pleasure as she looked up to her father for the conformation of how incredible her stunt was. The white haired man smiled at her and nodded, internally cursing himself and Sakura for taking the child with them to watch them train. Now she was going to be trying flips and twists and anything else she could think of in an attempt to be more like her parents, which would only end with her getting hurt. And since the only way to get her to stop was for her to actually _get_ hurt Kakashi could only watch and be there to scold her and baby her injuries.

"Yeah, Karin. But you need to be careful or else you'll just get hurt." But just like he had predicted the small girl ignored his warning and proceeded to do yet another "flip", twirling in place afterward and trying to do one of the fancy high kicks she remembered from a movie. The last stunt, however, caused her to lose her balance and stumble back, tripping over her own feet as she fell backwards and into the corner of one of the side tables.

There was a moment of silence before the girl sniffled, tears pooling in her eyes as she grabbed onto her arm, squeezing the spot that the corner had dug into accidently. With an ear shattering wail the girl threw her head back, tears streaming down her angry red face as her tiny chest heaved from the force of her screams.

"There now, didn't I warn you?" Kakashi said calmly as he pulled the small child to him, his large hands gentle as he grabbed her arm and lightly brushed over the place that she had hit, seeing the bruise that would be angrily painted on her skin soon.

"I-It h-hurts-s-s." Karin managed, her breath catching jerkily and making the words come out disconnected. Kakashi nodded sympathetically and lifted up the hem of his shirt, brushing away the girl's tears.

"I know, and that's why I told you to be careful." He told her, calming the rapid beating of his heart now that he confirmed that it hadn't been life threatening. It was just a bruise, she'd be over it in a few moments.

"I-I'm s-sorr-ry." She choked out, taking a few shuddering breaths as Kakashi smoothed back some of her short white hair.

"Nothing to be sorry about, just be more careful. Are you okay now?" The girl nodded and wiped at her face with her hands, getting rid of the last few remains of the tears.

"W-Will you play with me?" She asked, her wide and tear swollen green eyes looking up at him pleadingly. Kakashi gave into the small girl with a sigh, slipping off of the couch and sitting down beside her on the floor. The girl, not wanting to waste a single moment eagerly brought coloring books and crayons over, laying down on her stomach and watching as her father did the same with a delighted grin.

Kakashi looked down at the pages of thick, black lined printed drawings laid out before him, propping his chin on his fist as he started coloring in the princess's dress with the green crayon, glancing over to see Karin trying to color her fairy picture blue, the girl quickly forgoing the concept of lines to happily scribble away.

After Karin had grown bored with coloring she had quickly scrambled to her feet and grabbed her favorite lion and puppy puppets, wanting to put on an impromptu show for her avid audience, a show that only lasted a few giggling minutes before she threw them down and declared that she was hungry.

Happily full from a peanut-butter sandwich and an apple juice-box Karin tackled Kakashi's legs, growling playfully as the man fell backwards and onto his back, meeting the floor with a thud. Kakashi groaned in defeat as the small girl scrambled over him, his groans real at the times that Karin caught him in a few sensitive spots.

Karin giggled as she sat on top of her father, bouncing up and down on his stomach to make him laughingly call out defeat.

"Daddy Daddy!" Karin called out, pressing her hands into his chest urgently, "Make me fly like a bird!" Kakashi nodded and the girl scrambled off of him, waiting for him to bend his legs at the knees and firmly plant his feet on the ground before she leaned against his calves, holding out her hands for his.

Kakashi carefully lifted his feet off of the floor as he pulled his knees towards his chest the slightest bit, holding onto Karin's hands as his legs lifted so that he could make sure she didn't fall, releasing them when he was sure that she was steady so that she could spread her arms out to the sides, giggling as she pretended to fly, Kakashi's legs moving around a bit and delighting her.

The front door opened and Kakashi moved his head to look up at Sakura as she entered the apartment, smiling up at her upside down as Karin scrambled to abandon him and race over to her mother.

"Mommy! Mommy! Daddy and I played together! We colored and we played puppets and we-" Sakura smiled and moved towards the kitchen, depositing the bags in her hands on the counter.

"You did all of that? Really? Well, I guess you miss out on a lot when you go to the grocery store, don't you?" Karin beamed up at her and nodded, continuing to talk her mother's ear off as Kakashi came into the room, leaning back against the counter to watch the scene with amusement, chuckling when Karin hurried on out of the kitchen to go to her room, something of grave importance suddenly coming to her mind.

"So," Sakura said as she put the last of the groceries away, turning to smile teasingly at her husband, "The great copy ninja Hatake Kakashi was defeated by a child?"

Kakashi nodded and pulled a straight face, his voice grave when he spoke. "She was completely vicious. She gets it from her mother, I hear." Sakura snorted and moved past him, digging an elbow into his ribs as she passed him.

"Well, you complain now, but if I remember correctly when we made that vicious little hellion you seemed perfectly happy with how I was." She sent him a taunting look over her shoulder before she disappeared into their room to change into something more comfortable, her silent laughter ringing out as Kakashi's lips twitched.

"Oh, I wasn't complaining." He assured her, "And I never called her a hellion. That one was all you." He said, chuckling when the pink haired woman childishly stuck her tongue out at him.

* * *

I just finished reading a KakaSaku Fanfic and it was okay, but it had this adorable Kakashi daddy scene at the end of it which inspired me to write this at TWO in the FRIGGEN MORNING.

_Kathyyyyy_. Let me _sleeeeep_.

Oh, and the bird game is something that I loved to do when I was tiny and like to do with my little cousins. We always called it the superman game or the airplane game, but since the have neither Superman nor airplanes in the Narutoverse, the kid gets to be a bird.

I am death. (Goes and dies from pure exhaustion)


	64. Wedding Bells & Cherry Blossoms, KakaSak

Look at that! Did you see that? I took a break! I got some sleep!

... Actually, I was writing this chapter and I edited the first twenty or so chapters of this so... Yeah, I suck.

This is for my little salemboy94 who asked me to write out all of the weddings, so this is part one of your request (part two, technically, since I've already written out the NejiTen wedding)

Tada!

* * *

Sakura fell face-down onto the bed with a sigh, gleefully ignoring all the cardboard boxes that lay scattered about the room. She had thought both she and Kakashi led such simple and frugal lives, but that was obviously untrue since the sheer amount of crap they had was unbelievable and overwhelming. Hearing the soft footfalls of her lover Sakura grumbled and groaned, wondering how in the world she could have ever even remotely believed it would be a simple enough thing to move in with the man.

Two days of unpacking and the number of boxes still hadn't dwindled. She was starting to believe that they were spawning or something.

"Two boxes of candles." She sighed, rolling over to allow Kakashi room on the bed when he nudged her. "What in the _hell_ do you need two boxes of candles for?"

Kakashi roughly chuckled and rolled over on his elbow so that he looked down on Sakura, his open eye shining in sleepy amusement. "Do you want me to show you?" He asked her, a smirk twisting his lips. Sakura snorted and closed her eyes as Kakashi leaned over her to pull the switch on the lamp, throwing the room into moonlit darkness. Crap, she had forgotten to put the curtains up.

"Sorry Honey," She yawned, curling an arm underneath her pillow, "Not tonight. I'm too tired right now." Kakashi chuckled again and watched her in the darkness for a few silent moments before he reached out to play with a piece of her cotton candy colored hair. She had been growing it out for a little while so that now it hung down past her shoulders when she let it loose. It didn't make her face look as childish as it had in her younger years when they had first met, and she had styled it in this flippy sort of way that managed to make her look cute, but in a mature way.

"When are you going to accept my proposal?" He idly asked her, and Sakura didn't even bother asking what he was talking about. It had been just over a month since he had first asked her to marry him when he had heard about the baby, and she had thought that when she had said _'no'_ that it would be the end of the subject. Apparently not though.

"You know," She said, turning over onto her side as she opened her eyes so that they were face to face, "I get that there is this whole ideal of the big happy family with a married mommy and daddy and then a baby, but I never thought that you'd be one to go for all of that, Kakashi."

Kakashi rolled his eye at her, lifting it to the ceiling as if to ask for guidance. "I hate to sound redundant, but I really have to wonder at how many times I have to tell you that I'm not marrying you for the kid."

"I'm sorry, but it's hard to believe you when the timing is just oh-so convenient."

"And that I love you doesn't factor in at all?"

"Nope."

"So you want proof?"

"You betcha."

With a sigh Kakashi turned over to lay back on his back, crossing his arms beneath his head as he closed his eye. Only Sakura would want tangible proof of his honorable intentions and completely ignore the fact that he was offering her everything he had and was basically laying his heart out there for her to stomp on as she pleased.

"Go look in my top drawer in the dresser." He told her, and he could just picture her perplexed and slightly angered expression in her face as she stared at him.

"Kakashi, what-"

"Hush," He interrupted her with a sigh, "And just go check the drawer." He knew that all of the puzzlement in her expression would be overshadowed by raw fury now, and he could practically feel the poison tipped kunai she was now throwing at him with her eyes. God, sometimes he wondered how he had fallen for an overly emotional roller-coaster of a woman like Sakura.

He had to admit it was fun though and it certainly kept him on his toes.

With a huff Sakura rolled out of bed, stomping over to the dresser to yank the top drawer almost completely out, glaring down at the dozens of pairs of socks that filled it and the single tiny ring box that sat nestled right in the middle of the drawer. Sakura slowly turned, wide eyed, to stare at the man who had sat up in the bed, and Kakashi simply stared back at her with a slight smirk playing around his features.

"Kakashi," She practically wheezed, "What the hell?" This couldn't be real. It couldn't. When he was merely asking her she could just push it off because there was just no way that he was serious, but what was she supposed to do when he had actually bought a ring? What was she supposed to think?

"Look underneath it." He told her, his lips twitching at the befuddled and bug-eyed expression on her face. This was turning out to be way more fun than he had first expected.

"Underneath?" Sakura asked dumbly, waiting until he nodded in confirmation before she turned back to the sock drawer. She had expected him to tell her to look inside of the box, not under it. Wasn't the whole point of this to get her to look at the ring and say yes when she melted into a mushy puddle at his feet because of just how shiny and sparkly it was?

Lifting up the small velvet box and holding the weight of it in her hand Sakura looked down at the small slip of slick paper that had hid under it, lifting it up and staring at the little block print that covered it.

"This is-"

"A receipt. Dating back three months ago to when I bought the ring, which is two months before you told me about the baby." Sakura stared down at the paper in her hand and then down at the jeweler's box, blinking again at the sudden fluttering of her heart. This was... This was bad. She could feel her resolve crumbling beneath the light weight of that stupid little velvet box and the teasing warmth and seriousness that filled Kakashi's gaze.

God damn it.

Kakashi caught the box when it was thrown at him, watching as Sakura stomped over to him with a fierce look on her face, and as she lifted her hand and he waited for her to hit him unflinchingly. But when she thrust her hand out towards him it wasn't in a slap but instead she left it stop just a little bit in front of him, her fingers spread slightly.

"Well go on." She snapped, looking away as a blush overtook her cheeks, her left hand staying still between them. "I'm not putting the ring on myself."

Kakashi watched her for a minute before he smiled the smile that always made her stomach turn in little flips. Grabbing ahold of her wrist in one hand he flipped open the ring box with his other, slipping the small diamond ring onto her finger. He brought her newly adorned hand up to his lips to brush a light kiss over her knuckles, smiling into her eyes when they jerked back to his.

"There now," He said, smirking, "Was that so hard?"

Sakura huffed as the white haired man pulled her to him, laying back on the bed and dragging her down with him. Sakura grumbled as she wriggled around on top of him, sitting up so that she was straddling his hips, blowing her hair out of her eyes as she sent a glare to the man beneath her. Her right hand rested on his abs as she lifted the other one up to watch the new ring sparkle in the low light.

It was a simple oval cut diamond set in a thin plain yellow gold band, but Sakura found the simplicity of it charming. It wasn't so big that it would get in the way of regular every day things like when she did her rounds in the hospital, but it wasn't so small that she could accuse Kakashi of being his usual cheapskate self about it.

And it was pretty.

"Who knew you had good taste in jewelry?" Sakura mused as she wriggled her fingers the tiniest bit to watch it shimmer.

"Well, Tenzo helped." Sakura looked back at him questioningly, lowering her uplifted hand so that it rested beside her other one.

"Yamato?" She asked, remembering that Kakashi occasionally called the man by the other name. "Why did he help?"

"Well, I've heard that a second opinion would be worthwhile and he's the only person I know who could have kept quiet about it. Could you imagine if I had asked Gai to come? I never would have heard the end of it and half the village would have heard about it as well." Sakura nodded and then narrowed her eyes at the man, a sudden thought occurring to her as she remembered past interactions between Kakashi and Yamato.

"Kakashi, did you make that poor man go with you so that he could pay for the ring?" Kakashi raised his hands defensively at the girl's fierce glare, grinning at her charmingly.

"Now, would I really do that?" He asked her and Sakura let her silence speak for itself. Kakashi sighed and rolled his eyes at the pink haired girl's complete lack of faith in him, crossing his arms back underneath his head.

"Really now Sakura, of course I bought your engagement ring myself. I picked it out and chose the size myself too." Sakura leaned forward and placed her elbows on Kakashi's chest, propping her chin on her fists as she stared down at him.

"How'd you know my ring size?"

"The sharigan." Sakura's eyebrows raised and her lips pursed together as she stared at Kakashi's closed and scarred eye, surprised and intrigued.

"Really? So the all powerful sharigan memorizes ninjutsus, can carry out powerful genjutsus, _and_ can size jewelry? How nifty." Kakashi snorted and shifted slightly beneath her.

"Well, I've never heard it called that, but yeah. I just memorized the size of your hand and fingers and picked the best fit." Sakura smiled down at him, shifting and moving up his body the slightest bit, putting her hands on either side of his head and looming over him.

"So, I suppose you want me to reward you for this grand scheme of yours, huh?" Kakashi shrugged and smiled back up at her, his eye crinkling familiarly.

"It was a pretty good plan. I used the sharigan and everything." Sakura nodded and pursed her lips, making a comically sympathetic face down at the man.

"Not that you're bragging, of course."

"Of course."

Sakura snorted and grinned down at him, leaning down to lightly brush her lips over his. "Good boy." She murmured, leaning back to smirk down at the amused man beneath her before rolling off of him and onto her side of the bed, bringing the sheets up over her body as she curled away from Kakashi and closed her eyes, her smirking grin growing wider as the seconds passed.

"Really?" The dry voiced question nearly made Sakura lose her hold on the snort she was holding in, and when she spoke again Sakura couldn't hide the amusement that filled her words.

"Really what? I've already told you that I was tired and that nothing was going to happen." There were a few moments of silence before Kakashi sighed and Sakura's amusement hit its peak.

"Tease." Kakashi grumbled as Sakura nearly shook from her silent laughter, and with a grin on her face she waited. And waited.

And waited.

With a huff Sakura rolled onto her back and propped herself up on her elbows, glaring down at the man beside her, her amusement gone. He was just laying back with his eyes closed as if he was actually going to go to sleep.

"What? That's it?" Kakashi sighed and didn't even bother opening his eye, acting as if she were a nuisance who was keeping him from his precious sleep.

"Sorry Honey," He said, mimicking her earlier words, "But I'm too tired tonight."

With another huff and a growl Sakura sat up and grabbed her pillow, giving Kakashi a hearty hit with it in his face. The two began to laughingly wrestle over the pillow before it was tossed out of the bed by a victorious Kakashi.

Sakura sent an amused look up at the man who was currently pinning her down, one of her eyebrows arching as she felt a familiar appendage of Kakashi's nudging her thigh.

"Oh? What happened to being too tired?"

"Well, I just don't want to let you down." Sakura rolled her eyes at him as he lowered down to kiss her, turning her head to the side to deny him.

"Oh? Funny that you would worry about that now." There was a moment of still silence before Kakashi pulled back from where his lips had just barely brushed her throat, his eye brows raising in something akin to disbelief.

"Really Sakura? Is that a challenge?" Sakura pursed her lips and looked at him out of the corner of her eye, trying to control the smirk that wanted to twist her features.

"Maybe." She sing-songed, having to control her shiver as she watched Kakashi's expression change, his hands sliding down to grip her thighs in a bruising hold.

"Well then," He murmured dangerously, "You'd better hold onto something."

* * *

"So, we're here and we're waiting. When are you going to tell us what your big news is?" Ino asked as she, Tenten, Hinata, Sakura and Temari all crowded into a booth in the little club that they usually met at. Sakura had called them all -except for Temari, who had tagged along with Ino- and was currently sitting on top of her hand as she tried to figure out the best way to tell them all about the ring.

"Well, come on, tell us already. It can't be that big since you've already told us that you're pregnant, and I don't really think that news on your front can get too much bigger." Sakura bit her lip and shrugged, struggling to find the right words when Tenten leaned forward.

"Well, since you're all here and since Sakura seems to be struggling with what to say, I guess I'll go ahead and tell you my news." She paused for a beat and glanced around at the faces that were now riveted onto her, and smirked.

"I'm pregnant."

Another moment of silence passed before the women exploded. There were confirmations and congratulations, and as Sakura watched all she could see on the other woman's face was happiness, which she knew was a complete 180 from how she had been when she had learned about her own pregnancy. And seeing the other woman's apparent joy at her impending motherhood Sakura reached out her hand to her.

"Hey," She said to catch the other woman's attention, "Congratu-"

"OH MY GOD, ARE YOU WEARING AN ENGAGEMENT RING?" Sakura blinked and was nearly jerked across the table as Ino snatched her hand and pulled it toward her, staring wide eyed at the sparkly new addition on her best friend's hand. The other girls immediately crowded around to get a good look at the jewelry, shifting their wide eyes over to the slightly embarrassed pink haired owner.

"Surprise." Sakura sighed, tugging her hand back only to have it jerked again as each of the women passed it around.

"When did this happen? I mean, oh my God... How much did it cost?" Sakura rolled her eyes at the questioning blonde as she began to twist her hand a bit to watch it sparkle -much like Sakura had done the night she had gotten it- and sighed.

"Technically he asked me the night I told him that I was pregnant, but he got the ring two months before that and I only accepted it two nights ago. And really Ino, the cost? What was I supposed to do, ask him before I accepted it? How tacky would that be?" Of course, there was no reason to tell the blonde that she had in fact seen the receipt.

"Well... Who knew that the great copy ninja knew jewelry? I mean, this is a pretty nice ring, even if it does lean to the plain side."

"Hey now," Sakura said, finally able to snatch her hand back, "Don't call my ring 'plain'. I don't go around calling your ring- oh wait, that's right, you don't have a ring." Ino narrowed her eyes at the girl an leaned forward.

"Oh, I didn't mean anything by it, just that I figured that he'd get you something a bit bigger to take the attention away from your big billboard forehead!"

"Oh yeah, you stupid Ino-pig?" Sakura started, both of them rising from their seats slightly as their emotions rose. The other three women at the table watched, somewhat amazed that the two of them were actually best friends.

"Um, Sakura-chan," Hinata interrupted, wanting to stop the girls since the entire room was currently and embarrassingly focused on them, "It is a very nice ring."

Sakura sat back down and smiled at the other woman and then down at her ring, smirking a little bit as she watched it glitter. She didn't think that she was going to get tired of that anytime soon. "Yeah, and I guess that the guy that comes with it isn't too bad either." The other women's eyebrows raised since they weren't used to Sakura mentioning anything about Kakashi, especially with such a fond tone or look, but with one sharp and protective look from Ino they stayed silent.

"So, what's the plan?" Ino asked, stirring her cocktail with the tiny little straw it came with.

"Well, I don't want anything big since I saw what a hassle that was with Naruto and Hinata's wedding -no offense, Hinata- and I also want it to be before I get too big to fit into any decent dresses. I'm figuring that we can do it sometime within the next two to three months, which Kakashi has no problem with since his idea of our romantic day was to just elope. The idiot."

Ino nodded, already deciding that she would be the maid of honor and as such she would be there to help with the planning and details. "Well, I can help with the flowers, obviously. What do you want? Roses are a bit over done, so I'd say to stay away from those... but you could do cherry blossoms." She teased, grinning at the face her friend made at the suggestion. "What? No sakura for Sakura's big day?"

"Oh, and we can do pink, lots and _lots _of pink in all different shades so we can see just how many we can match with you hair."

"Shut up." Sakura said, rolling her eyes as the other women giggled.

"Oh no, we need to seriously discuss your options." Ino said, smirking. "Like what the groom is going to wear. Do you think we can find a tux with the mask already in it or do you think we'll have to special order it?" The girls snorted, trying to hold in their laughter so that they didn't disturb the other patrons at the club, but Ino was ruthless.

"And the dogs, we need to do something with the dogs. Do you think that one of them will be the ring bearer? Or maybe the flower girl? We'll need to get them little tuxes, though the flower girl will need a little dress." The images of Kakashi's ninken in little dresses and tuxedos did the women in, sending them into tearful peals of laughter, gasping as they tried to calm down, though they found themselves unable to do so since images of just how ridiculous the day could be continued to dance through their heads.

Sakura flicked her tears away as she snorted, almost able to see Kakashi's and the ninkin's faces if she even dared to suggest such an outrageous thing.

And as she sat there laughing with her friends, Sakura just couldn't see how anything could ruin this little happiness.

* * *

Looking into her reflection in the mirror, Sakura came to the decision that there was no way in hell she was ever leaving the little tiled bathroom she had locked herself into. She'd live in here if she had to, because the reality that was ready to slap her across her face outside of that door was not one that she wanted to be a part of. Nope. No way.

God, she was going to be sick.

Sinking down to the tiled floor and sticking her head over the toilet Sakura ignored the knocking on the door, growling as it became increasingly and annoyingly insistent.

Couldn't they just leave her alone so that she could die alone and miserable in her new little home?

"Sakura, open the door before I unlock it and come in there myself." Sakura rolled her eyes at the threat. Yeah, like she hadn't thought of that? What kind of a ninja did they think she was? Of course she reenforced the lock and the door, she wasn't stupid.

"No, Ino. Leave me alone." Sakura grumbled lowly, though she was sure that the blonde heard her. The door knob wriggled for a moment and there was a beat of silence before Ino cursed colorfully.

"She's basically made a barricade." She told whoever was on the other side with her before banging on the door again. "Sakura, come on. Stop this and get your bony ass out here."

"No! And my ass isn't bony!"

"Really? Why don't you get out here and show me then? Huh?" There was a beat of silence which obviously spoke for itself before Ino pounded on the door again, though a bit harder this time. "Damn it, Sakura, get out here before I get an exploding tag and burn this thing down, and then you'll have to pay for the damages!" Sakura rolled her eyes and tilted her head back against the wall.

"Go right ahead. But you'll probably get arrested for vandalism." There was a pause as Ino and whoever was out there with her had a murmuring conversation that Sakura was unable to hear before her blonde best-friend took a deep and audible breath.

"Sakura," She said in a low and serious voice, "If you don't get out of this bathroom right this minute I'll go get Tsunade and she'll _get _you out." Sakura lifted her head and narrowed her eyes at the door, judging just how serious the other girl was about the threat.

"No you wouldn't." She said, though the statement came out sounding far to much like an question for her tastes.

"Yes, I would. Now come out here."

With a weary moan Sakura pushed herself off of the floor and to the door, disengaging all of her precautions and opening the door, looking into the face of her aggravated best-friend with a sigh.

"Well, here I am." She said sarcastically. Ino latched onto her arm and pulled her to across the room, grumbling under her breath about how she was an ungrateful little brat who actually deserved to stay locked up in a dinky and dirty little bathroom for the rest of her life.

Ino shoved her down onto the stool in front of the vanity, turning her away from the mirror and starting on her makeup while Hinata -who apparently had a knack for hair- started styling her hair.

"Seriously though, what is wrong with you? Hiding in the bathroom? Really?" Sakura shrugged but otherwise kept still, not wanting to ruin the other women's hard work.

"I don't know."

"Well, you're taking pre-wedding jitters to a whole new level here, and you only have, what? Thirty people out there at _most_?" Sakura merely shrugged again and waited patiently for the two of them to be done.

Hinata left as soon as she was done so that she could go out and join Naruto and Kori to keep an eye on her husband until the ceremony started, hoping that he hadn't taken their daughter and showed her off to too many of the people. He was proud and it was cute, but it was also kind of overwhelming to some people.

Ino finished Sakura's makeup with a flourish, making sure that she couldn't see herself in the mirror as she helped her up and ushered her to where they had her dress hanging. Taking it out of the bag Ino checked the clock and held back a curse when she saw that Sakura's little stunt with the bathroom had set them back and made them a little late. It wasn't that bad though, especially since it wasn't like they could start without her.

Helping Sakura step into the dress Ino pulled it up and zipped up the discreet little zipper, stepping back and nodding her head before she ushered Sakura right back to the mirror, stepping back and allowing the pink haired girl to see herself as a bride.

Her pink hair had been braided and twisted and twirled off to the side with the little yellow flowers Sakura had finally decided on placed artfully in. Her make up was -of course- tastefully done and didn't take away from the hairstyle or the dress. The dress itself was knee length and strapless, the skirt flaring out charmingly, the ivory white of the dress giving her skin a warm glow as the delicate beading sparkled.

Ino grinned at her, excited to see how she reacted.

"Well? What do you feel?" Ino asked her, almost ready to burst as she waited for her to say all the cliché happy little things that all brides almost seemed required to say. But she was sorely disappointed because Sakura watched her reflection silently for a moment before turning to look at the blonde, her eyes void of any emotions.

"Despair."

Ino pursed her lips and nodded as if this were a completely normal response. "Yes, well, not really what we're going for here." Ino stepped forward and took Sakura by the shoulders, giving her a rough shake as if that would get some sense into her.

"Seriously, Sakura, what's going on? This is your wedding day and you're acting like somebody just slapped your mother and shot your dog."

Sakura shoved away from Ino's hold and began pacing, rubbing her arms up and down as if she had a chill, her dress swishing with her movements.

"What if... What if this is some mistake? I mean... What if he is marrying me for the baby? What if all of this," She said, throwing out her arm in a grand gesture, "Is just for some mistake? He is Hatake Kakashi, the great copy ninja. He _literally_ has fanclubs and girls that would cut off their left foot to even be given a chance with him, and he's settling for _me_."

As Sakura had panicked and paced Ino had slowly walked forward until she was in the other girl's path, making her stop or else she would have run into her. Quicker than a normal eye could catch Ino raised her hand and slapped Sakura across her cheek, making her head to turn to the side from the force and making her eyes water from the sting.

"Don't you _ever_," Ino said lowly, "Let me hear you call your child a mistake again. Kakashi has gone all these years without ever visiting that little fanclub of his, so I don't think you have to worry about them unless he suddenly develops very bad taste, and not only that but he has been faithful to you these past few years, so he deserves better that you spewing these little panic lines about him back here."

Seeing that Sakura was going to open her mouth Ino raised her hand and held her off.

"Now, I don't care if he's the great and all powerful Hatake Kakashi or the organic fertilizer salesman, the only reason you are here right now is because you love him so stop bringing that up because the stupidity hurts my ears. And he's not settling, you nitwit, he's apparently -for some unknown reason- in love with you too, so get your head out of your ass and realize that this little panic session of yours is a waste of our time."

Sakura blinked at her and then blinked again, taking a deep and shuddering breath as she realized that Ino was right. This wasn't about the baby or the fanclubs or any of that other stuff she had brought up, this was only about her and Kakashi, nothing and nobody else.

"He could have forged the receipt, you know." Sakura mused as she sat down so slip her low sparkly and strappy heels on.

"Nope." Ino said as she walked over to the mirror to make sure her own reflection was perfect. Sure, the bride was the one who got all the attention, but that was no reason for her not to look damn hot. After all, she expected to be propositioned for a coatroom quickie by a certain Inuzuka before the night was up. "I checked that out because I thought that it could have been the case. Apparently he bought it when he said he did and paid ticket price, though he didn't tell anyone who it was for. The sales lady and that Yamato guy were very curious."

Sakura's lips twitched, knowing that all of that -especially swallowing his penny pinching habits to pay at ticket price- was one of the biggest declarations of love she was ever going to get from the man.

Taking another breath Sakura looked down at the sparkling engagement ring and held back a laugh. "Holy Shit, Ino. I'm about to get married to Kakashi."

Ino nodded and grabbed Sakura's arm, helping her up. "Yep. Now look that way so I can hit your other cheek. The one's getting a bit red and we need to even you out." Sakura laughed and the two girls looked at each other before they both reached out, pulling each other into a hard hug.

"Geeze, first Hinata and Tenten and now you. Next thing I know Shikamaru will finally get the guts to ask Temari and then I'll be surrounded by a bunch of old married women who want to trade recipes." They both let out a watery chuckle and Ino leaned back, looking up as she wiped away her tears to try and keep her makeup presentable.

"I know that people are supposed to cry at weddings but you need to stop before you mess up your make up. The bride can't go down the aisle looking like a train wreck." Sakura chuckled and looked up at the ceiling, blinking her tears away.

"I could say the same to you, you know."

They both stood there for a few moments sniffling before they quickly refreshed their makeup, shaking off the weepy and nostalgic mood as best they could. Sakura took a breath as she stood by the door, gripping the small bouquet Ino handed her with a strangling grip.

"Are you okay?" Ino asked quietly, noticing her tense fingers. Sakura took another breath and nodded, trying to relax, but it was kind of impossible to do when all she could think about was that she was about to get _married_.

Her plans had been to wait a few years before all of this so that she could keep on with the missions and training and become a better medic-nin than even Tsunade. She hadn't wanted the whole family thing for years, if ever. She had given up the childish little dreams of a happy marriage and babies years ago, and she had been perfectly happy with how her's and Kakashi's relationship had been, though she could see now how extremely foolish she had been for thinking that it could have worked forever with them keeping it a secret.

This wedding, this baby, none of it had been in her plans.

But plans had a way of changing.

Taking another breath she nodded to Ino to show that she was ready and they both made their way out of the room and to the archway where Sakura paused for Ino to walk through first, listening as the sound of the voices in the room quieted as Ino gracefully made her way to the front of the room as a low murmur of music played. And then, setting her shoulders back, she stepped out.

She didn't notice the eyes that stared at her or see the friends that they had invited, she only saw Kakashi standing back next to Naruto in a dark blue dress shirt and black pants, smirking beneath that damnable mask of his. He wasn't wearing his forehead protector, so his scarred eye was visible, and his hair was in its usual messy disarray, his ninken sitting off to the side a bit.

God, she loved him.

When she stepped up beside him Kakashi leaned in a bit to murmur to her as Naruto started reading from the little book that was for such occasions.

"You're late." She smirked up at him, leaning a bit closer.

"Sorry, it seems that I got lost on the path of life."

He crinkled his eye at her and chuckled lowly, both of them leaning back in time for Sakura to hear Naruto summing up some of the words he was supposed to say in his usual way, making everyone listening chuckle.

"Idiot." Sakura said, hitting Naruto on his head with her fist, making the blonde Hokage wince and rub the spot as the room to roared with laughter. "Say it right."

"I didn't think brides were supposed to be violent." Naruto muttered, holding his hands up defensively when Sakura made to hit him again. "Fine! Alright! I'll read it like it is in the book! Geeze!"

The room laughed once more and Sakura grinned at the poor man as he grumbled a little bit before starting again, trying to stay to the book this time though he added his own little comments in every now and then.

Plans had a way of changing, and Sakura was pleasantly surprised to find that she actually wasn't all that upset about the way her life was turning out. In fact, as she wrapped her arms around Kakashi's neck for the kiss and ignored Naruto's sound of disgust, Sakura found that she was actually amazingly happy with how things were turning out.

* * *

Sorry about how the title came out, but I finally get a title that I'm happy with (Hard to do after 62 chapters) and the stupid website looks at me and goes, "Hahaha, you? Happy? Like we want that."

I'm going to go cry in a corner now since I'm such a failure at life.

To Hektols- Thank you, my dearest, for your understanding and support when it comes to the evil that is my muse. I did as you so kindly suggested and took a break with a bowl of ice cream and a brownie, and started editing all of my earlier chapters (I re-posted the first twenty or so), and I tried as hard as I could to get rid of all of the real world references I could find because I know how they annoy you so.

Oh, and I'm about to have another little fangirl moment-

NARUHINA! There's some serious NARUHINA in the latest chapter! AHHHHHH!

It made me so happy that I almost cried tears of joy. I never knew how deeply I felt about this couple until I saw this chapter and grinned from ear to ear, almost giggling from how happy it made me.

I'm in too deep now to ever stop, and if Kishimoto decides to put Naruto with Sakura after toying with my emotions the way he has, I'm going to fly over to Japan and bite him.

I'll be back, my darlings! But until then I must bid you adieu!

Adieu.


	65. Guard Dogs, KakaSaku

This chapter is for Hektols who said a couple of weeks ago:

**"...the dogs meeting their [Kakashi and Sakura's] children after they are born."**

****So, here you go!

P.S.- Karin's name means "Summer Forest".

* * *

"Are you ready for this?"

Sakura looked Kakashi in the eye determinedly and tightened her grip on the handle of the baby carrier, straightening her spine and shoving her shoulders back. "Yeah. Go ahead." She told him, watching as her husband opened up the front door to their apartment.

"Sakura-chan!"

"Cherry Blossom!"

"Cherry-chan!"

"You're BACK!"

Sakura winced and watched as Kakashi stood in the doorway, blocking every attempt his ninken made at getting out and getting to Sakura. It was kind of amusing, really, watching a full grown man battling it out with eight talking and overly excited dogs, especially when Bull came lumbering over and tried to nudge past the man to get a peek.

"Hey! Hey now! Calm down or we're leaving." Kakashi told them all threateningly, and Sakura rolled her eyes at him. They were ninja dogs, if they left they'd just find them. Really, he was going to have to get better with his threats if her wanted to be good at the whole parenting thing.

"Calm down," Sakura said quietly, peeking beneath the soft blanket to make sure that the ruckus hadn't disturbed what was hidden beneath. "Or else I won't make any of you dinner for a week." She smiled sweetly up at them as they immediately silenced, shooing them back.

"Now then, let us in and I'll show you what we brought home."

After everyone had gotten settled around the couch that Sakura was sitting on she pulled the blanket off of the carrier, gently slipping her hands in to slowly lift up the small form that had been housed in it.

"This," She said softly, almost reverently, "Is Karin."

The dogs crowded closer to the sleeping baby, sniffing the air around her to get accustomed to her smell, staring down into her scrunched up red face curiously.

"This is your pup?" Shiba asked, his head tilting as he puzzled over something in his mind. "Is is supposed to look all... squishy?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and chuckled, looking down at Karin -her _daughter_- and smiling. "Yes, Shiba, and Karin is a girl, not an it. But she's not squishy, she's perfect." From the little tuft of white hair that stood straight up atop her head to her ten little fingers and her ten little toes, she was absolutely, positively, beautifully perfect.

Seeing the pleading looks on their faces Sakura sighed and leaned over a bit to allow the dogs a closer look, letting each of them gently sniff the baby, nuzzling their noses lightly against her. Shiba, however, was a bit too exuberant when it came to be his turn and ended up nudging the baby the wrong way, waking her unhappily up.

Karin started to squirm, her tiny arms and legs twitching around as her face scrunched up in distaste, her shrill screams surprising all of the ninken.

"What happened?" Shiba yelped as he jumped back, his eyes wide. "Did I break her? What did I do?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and adjusted her hold on the baby, rubbing her back soothingly as she began to rock back and forth.

"You didn't break her, Shiba, you just surprised her. She isn't used to all of you just yet, that's all." She murmured, smiling as the baby's cries died off after a moment more. "There, see? All better now."

Shiba nodded and inched closer now, extremely careful and hesitant now. "Yes, I'm sorry, Little Forest." Sakura blinked at the dog and his strange nickname, trying to figure out how he had gotten that one. "I'll be better now, just don't do the loud screamy thing again."

"My name is Shiba and these over here are Pakkun, Bull, Urushi, Bisuke, Akino, Uhei, and Guruko. We'll all play together and have a lot of fun together once you aren't so red and squishy. Over there is Pakkun's chair -don't sit in it or else he'll bite at you, and it really hurts your nose- and that is Bull's rug. That is Akino's table and he stays under there most of the time, but don't ask him why, he'll only tell you that it's a ninja secret. At least that's what he tells me. That's my favorite pillow, but don't worry, I'll let you use it, and that's my favorite spot to have my bones over there. Over there is-"

"Shiba, that's enough," Sakura gently interrupted, holding back her amusement, "We don't want to overwhelm her. She just got here, after all." Shiba nodded and Sakura smiled at him, standing up with a little help from Kakashi.

"Where are you going, Cherry-chan?" Bisuke asked, all of the dogs immediately getting up to follow her. Sakura rolled her eyes and held back a chuckle, thinking that they all looked more like worrying mother hens than life threatening ninja dogs that were able to tear you limb from limb.

"To our room. Karin will be staying in there with us until she gets a little bit older." The dogs all nodded and made understanding sounds as they all followed as close as they possibly could to Sakura as she walked to the room, and she shared an amused look with Kakashi over the little procession that was following her.

Once in the room Sakura went around the bed and placed the baby into the darling little bassinet that Ino had given them at the baby shower, brushing a finger reverently down a silky smooth cheek before stepping back and almost ramming right into the lurking form of Bull.

"Sakura, what did you put little Karin in that?" Sakura blinked down at Urushi, for a moment even questioning her motives before she managed to remember.

"She's going to sleep in it while she's in here and then we'll move her into a crib when she goes into her own room."

"She's not going to sleep with you and Kakashi?" Sakura shook her head and started towards the door.

"No, she's way to tiny. What if we roll over during the night on top of her?" The dogs nodded that they understood and Sakura left the room to go to the living room, joining Kakashi on the couch with a weary sigh.

"Well, they seem exited." Kakashi said conversationally and Sakura flopped across him with a groan so that she was laying bodily across his lap.

"They're like a group of children with a shiny new toy. I was worried for a second that they'd start fighting over who she belonged to after another minute."

Kakashi chuckled and started to smooth down her hair and Sakura let herself relax at his touch, only opening her eyes and lifting her head when the silence suddenly hit her. It was never _ever_ this silent in the apartment unless the ninken and Kakashi were trying to hide something from her, and she really didn't think that they had had the time to get into any trouble since she and Kakashi had gotten back. Sharing a look with Kakashi they both got up and made their way back to the bedroom, peeking in and blinking at what they saw.

All of the ninken sat around the bassinet, staring at it intently as they stayed on alert as if at any moment some enemy nin would be breaking through the window to attack the precious person they were now guarding. None of them even looked back at Kakashi and Sakura, far too intent on their little charge to break their concentration for a moment.

Sakura turned to lean back against the wall beside the door, covering her mouth as she lightly laughed.

"Oh, oh God." She gasped, "We have the only baby in the world that has her own personal guard of ninken. She's going to grow up more protected than any ANBU guarded Hokage children ever though about being."

Kakashi leaned against the wall on the other side of the door, tilting his head back. "Do you want me to call them off?"

"Oh no," Sakura said, waving him away. "I think it's sweet. And it's not like they're bothering anything."

* * *

Sakura sat up as Karin's cries split through the air, blearily blinking at the bassinet as she slipped her legs over the side of the bed. Reaching into the bassinet for Karin, murmuring soothingly to her as she lifted her up, Sakura checked the small diaper.

"Cherry-chan! Is Forest-chan okay?" Bisuke asked as he practically jumped up onto the bed beside her, dancing around her legs agitatedly.

"Yeah," Sakura yawned, feeling the tempting tug of sleep that only sheer maternal force was holding off. "She's just hungry."

"Oh," The ninken said, sitting down to watch since he knew the baby wasn't dying now, no matter how loud her cries were, "Okay."

Sakura was lifting up Kakashi's shirt that she had worn to sleep up when she felt the prickle of those two wide eyes staring at her. With a sigh Sakura let go of the shirt and soothingly rubbed circles over Karin's tiny back, silently asking her to hold on for a few more seconds.

"Bisuke, can you please leave the room for a few minutes?" She asked, the dog blinking at her and tilting his head in confusion.

"Why?"

"I need to feed Karin."

"Oh." There was a beat of silence before he asked the question that Sakura could see coming from a mile away. "Why do I need to leave?"

"Because."

"Well," He huffed as he settled down on the floor, lowering his head to his paws. "That isn't a very good reason."

Sakura nearly groaned, turning to Kakashi since she knew that he'd be able to do... something.

"Kakashi, make your ninken leave the room." Kakashi didn't bother opening his eye and only sighed wearily, wondering why Sakura hadn't done anything to stop Karin's crying. Hadn't she said that she was hungry?

"Why?"

"Because," Sakura growled, beginning to rock Karin, "I don't really feel like flashing my girls at your dogs."

Kakashi sighed again before snapping his fingers and pointing to the door, Bisuke grumbling as he followed the order.

Settling back into her pillow Sakura lifted up her shirt and guided Karin to her breast, closing her eyes as the baby fed.

"Do I have to leave too?" A low, husky voice asked from beneath the bed, making Sakura jump the tiniest bit.

"Are you going to stay down there?"

"Yes."

"Then no, you don't have to leave, Akino."

Sakura leaned her head back against the headboard and closed her eyes again, only moving again when Karin was finished eating so that she could burp her, wiping away the little bit of milk that had escaped the suction of her tiny lips.

"Did you just wipe that up with my shirt?" Kakashi grumbled and Sakura rolled her eyes as she settle Karin back in the bassinet.

"It's a part of nature, Kakashi, so stop being squeamish. And you get blood all over your clothes all the time on missions."

"That wasn't blood though." Sakura slid back underneath her blankets and curled on her side, yawning again as she prepared to go back asleep, knowing that she'd be woken up again in a few hours and would need as much rest as she could get.

"If you don't shut up and let me go to sleep I can promise you that there will be some blood on it." She told him threateningly. "I'll wash your damn shirt, so just go to bed."

There were a few moments of silence where Sakura was lulled into a false sense of security before Kakashi spoke up again.

"It isn't like it's that big of a deal..." Sakura reached out with her hand and dug her nails into his arm to get him to stop, a killing aura radiating off of her.

"You. Will. Die." She warned him darkly, "Go. To. Bed." Sakura finished, hissing as she released him and turned away, just in case she was tempted to do something absurdly violent to him.

She didn't want to wake the baby with all that noise, after all.

* * *

Sakura tried her very best not to scream or have a nervous breakdown. It was extremely difficult but she was somehow winning the war that was currently raging between her and her nerves, but that was liable to change at any given moment.

Especially if the dogs didn't back up and give her her space.

It was _adorable _that they were so attached to Karin, everyone said so, but they didn't have to be quite so... close.

Every day and every night, it didn't matter what time or place or who else was there, at least one of them was right there at Karin's side no matter what and it was driving her completely insane.

Currently it seemed that Bull was on guard duty, and no matter what she moved for, even if it was to get up and grab the remote, as long as Karin was in her arms that huge hulking dog was lurking right there behind her. Getting up to get a bottle of water from the fridge Sakura prayed for a few moments of peace, but it was not forthcoming since Bull was right on her heels.

She didn't care if he was able to move in complete silence and she didn't care that he was always quick to move when ever he found himself in her way, he was always right there behind her and she could feel his hot, wet breath on the back of her neck.

With a short sound of frustration Sakura turned right back around and laid Karin down on one of the sofa cushions, pointing to Bull threateningly. "Make sure nothing happens to her." She warned him and then watched as he settled down in front of the cushion, staring down at Karin with a light of pride and protectiveness in his eyes as he silently defended his ward.

Now how could she stay mad at that?

Going into the kitchen Sakura got her water and then decided to make herself something to eat while she had the chance, throwing together a small sandwich and eating it quickly as she sat on top of the counter. Even knowing that there was a dog as big and as dangerous as a bear protecting her child in the living room, Sakura didn't feel quite right when she was away from Karin, like something was about to go wrong at any minute.

She came out of the kitchen in time to see Shiba over next to Karin, nudging a ball towards her with his nose.

"Little Forest, don't you want to play with me? Huh? I even brought you my favoritest ball." He urged her, inching the toy closer and closer to her as he spoke.

Sakura shook her head and came over, picking up Karin and then setting down with her, leaning back against the cushions.

"Sorry, Shiba, but she's too little to play." She told him, watching as his face fell.

"It's already been a month!" He whined, placing his head on her knee as Bull lumbered over to stretch out on his favorite rug. "When can she play?"

Sakura reached out and scratched the top of his head sympathetically. "About a year, I'd say." She told him, watching as he flopped backwards to wriggle and roll around as if mortally wounded.

"A whole _year_?!" He moaned, whimpering. "That's forever! Can't you make her hurry up, Cherry Blossom?" Sakura shook her head, forcing her face to stay sympathetic and not amused like it wanted to be.

"No, I'm sorry Shiba but I can't." The dog continued to pout and whine until Sakura stood up, perking up as if nothing had ever been wrong.

"Calm down," She warned him, "I'm only going into my room so that I can put Karin to bed for a while." He nodded and both dogs got up.

Sakura had to hold back a groan at this as she wondered how long they could possibly keep this up. It couldn't possibly go on forever, could it? And then she was only able to feel sympathy for the small child in her arms as she thought over what a hell her future would be like if this continued on, especially into the dating years.

* * *

Oh, and for the confusion in the last chapter, Tenten was the one telling them that she was pregnant, not Sakura. They already knew about Sakura's baby (along with half of Konoha, thanks to Naruto)

I was looking up the meanings of all of my kids' names after I looked up Karin's and did you know that Jiro is an actual Japanese name?

Don't give me that look.

It means "Second son", and we're just going to ignore that and pretend that it's second child, okay?

And Mino with two 'o's is a name in Afghanistan.

It's just that I got most of my names from mangas I really like (bet you can't guess!), but on some I was a little lost and I didn't have any internet so I just moved letters around in names I already knew until I liked them and they looked Japanese. (I did this with Kori, Mino, and Jiro)

No judging.

Well, that's all for now (I think). Stay fresh!


	66. Champagne Memories, InoCho

It is, as I am posting this 3:50.

IN THE MORNING.

And am I done yet? Nooooo, I'm in the middle of a roll on the next chapter, so I'll be up a while longer. Hahaha hehehe ehhhhh... I need a life... or a psychologist...

My InoCho wedding for my darling little salemboy94 and also for the lovely cerez, who said that he was really looking forward to my InoCho wedding.

Well, here it is! Hope you're not disappointed.

* * *

"Did the flowers arrive?"

"Yep. Your mom took care of it to make sure everything arrived on time and just right."

"Are they setting them up how they should be? The ribbons on the vases aren't to ostentatious, are they?"

"Yes, and you decided on the thin silver ribbon remember? It's fine and pretty and very wedding-y." Ino nodded and took a breath as they continued walking through the halls to the bridal party's room, reminding herself that everything was going to go like clockwork. After all, hadn't everyone worked hard under her direction to make every single minute detail come out flawlessly for her wedding?

But damn it, she just knew that there was going to be something she forgot.

Looking over at her right hand and maid of honor, Ino felt a stab of love and pity for Sakura. She had been so great with helping her with everything and dealing with her moods and whims, and yet even on the big day she just couldn't give the pink haired girl a break.

Oh well, what else are best-friends for?

"And the caterers?"

"Here, all three of them. You know they'd get here early so not to get on anyone's bad side. They here the words 'Akimichi wedding' and both run in fear from the work and salivate over the huge paycheck." Ino nodded as her group entered the bridal room, everyone spreading out for their individual tasks.

Ino continued her interrogation about what was going on as her hair and makeup were being done, lifting her arms up and keeping still as her dress was pulled up her body, the corset ties in the back being done up.

After slipping into her skinny silver heels Ino turned to look at herself in the floor-length mirror, taking in the way her hair -Hinata really needed to go into business- had been curled and tussled, the front-most parts kept back with a glittering barrette at the back of her head, her bangs, as per usual, hanging over her eye.

Her dress was of ivory satin, the sweet-heart neckline and the tightly hugging fabric that extended down over her hips giving her just the right amount of sexy that she wanted, the dropped waist-line flaring out into a ball gown skirt and the chapel train giving her the perfect amount of elegance. There was beading just before the skirt flared out like a sort of dropped belt to giver her the glamor, and the surprising simplicity of it assured her that it wouldn't take away from the package as a whole.

Ino looked at the expectant faces around her before smoothing her hands down her curving hips, sending them all a cocky smile.

"Damn, am I hot or what?"

There was a laugh of appreciation before everyone hurried on with their individual things and Ino turned to find Sakura behind her, fussing over the girl she had with her.

"And how's our flower girl doing, little miss Karin?" The five year old blinked up at the angel in front of her before smiling, wishing as hard as she had ever wished that she could be as pretty as that.

"Fine." She said.

Ino amazingly knelt down and kept her perfect balance on the thin twigs that she called heels -most people would have found it impossible enough to even stand up in the things- and tilted her head inquisitively at the child.

"What's up, buttercup?"

Karin giggled and shrugged, leaning against her mother' legs as she smiled at the bride.

"You look really pretty, Aunt Ino." The child whispered loudly, as if it were some big secret. Ino leaned in until their noses almost bumped and whispered right back to her.

"Yeah, but you're prettier."

The smaller girl smiled and fiddled with the fabric of her lavender dress, "Nuh-uh. You look like a princess."

Ino grinned at the child and stood up, walking a few steps away to a table they had set up and picking up a box off of it.

"Now," She said, "It just doesn't make sense that I'm the princess here Because, after all, you're the one that gets to wear this." She said, lifting up a dainty little silver sparkly tiara that made the small girl gasp. Setting it atop the girl's white-haired head Ino watched at the child quickly turned, her wide eyes eating up her reflection in the mirror as if it were the most delicious treat.

"Mom! Mom! Do you see? Do you see? I'm a _princess_." She said, dancing around in her unrestrained excitement, the fluffy skirt of her dress twisting and turning as she twirled.

"Yes, you're very pretty." Sakura said sweetly, leaning into Ino to hiss at her almost silently, "What are you doing, giving a five year old something like that? It's probably real! Do you even know how much that thing cost?" Ino shrugged.

"I don't really care. She's getting a kick out of it, and it was just some gift from some store."

"Yes, but it's a tiara!"

"It could be a potato for all I care, so long as Karin likes it and she regards me as her favorite aunt."

Sakura rolled her eyes and was about to say something when Karin began to pull incessantly at her bride's maid dress, her mint green eyes pleading pitifully with the woman. "Mom! Let's go find Dad and show him! Can we? Can we?"

Ino watched the duo walk away with a slight head shake before turning away to do a few more mental checkups.

"I wonder if the cake arrived alright..." She murmured, jumping slightly in surprise when a familiar voice jarred her from her thoughts.

"It did, and it's huge." Ino whirled around to be faced with yet another member of her bridal party with a child.

Temari jiggled Kyoko on her hip, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face. "And I there I was thinking our cake for one clan wedding was big, but two clans where one is the Akimichi? Big doesn't even begin to describe that thing." Ino nodded and then bit her lip in worry.

"Did it look alright? Nothing was messed up, was it? Do you think they got the wrong flavors because-" She was stopped when Temari forcefully pushed her down on a small sofa that was situated against the wall, picking up one of the champagne flutes that sat on the table and shoving it into her hands.

"Chill. Nothing was wrong, everything was right. You need to think about something else because if you don't stop freaking out you'll go out there with worry lines or something." Ino immediately smoothed her face out and took a sip of the drink, blinking at just how bubbly it was. She'd never had champagne before and it was actually pretty good.

Taking the other woman's advice Ino decided to start a conversation, figuring that that would be the best thing to distract her.

"I heard you guys were dragged to another clan meeting."

Temari sighed and stepped over the skirt of Ino's dress, moving the material out of the way on the sofa so that she could sit down beside the other blonde, shifting the toddler so that she was sitting in her lap.

"Yeah, it was pretty troublesome." She said, her lips twitching at her use of her husband's favored word. "I don't know how but eventually it got on the subject of Kyoko's name again, all of those old geezers talking about how the youth was upsetting decades of tradition and all that. I mean, she's almost two, you'd think they would have gotten over it by now."

Ino's lips twitched, "What did you say?"

"I said that since it was so important to them if they managed to get her up in themselves and then shove her right back out again I'd be perfectly fine with them renaming her. It was pretty quiet after that." Ino snorted and poured herself some more of the champagne -man, that stuff was good.

"I'm going to pass the kid off to her grandparents so that I can stay in here right before we go out. She'll probably sleep through the ceremony since she was up all night with Shikamaru." Ino nodded goodbye and continued to sit after she had left, pouring herself some more champagne, the bubbly taste just absolutely delightful.

Thinking about bubbles got her thinking about something she had read earlier about how birds ate the rice after weddings and died, and how bubbles were a better alternative. She couldn't remember if they had bubbles or not, which obviously meant that they didn't, and thinking that she was about to selfishly kill all of those innocent birds was just so overwhelming that tears filled her eyes.

"Well, it seems like everything is in ord- Ino! What happened? Why are you crying?" Sakura frantically asked, kneeling down next to her sobbing friend.

"T-The birds!" Ino choked out, sniffling loudly as huge tears rolled down her cheeks and ruined her makeup.

"What birds?" Sakura couldn't remember anything about birds in the wedding.

"T-The ones we're going to kill_!_" Ino wailed, her tears coming faster now as Sakura's confusion grew.

"What? What are you talking about?" Sakura was conscious of everyone staring and glared at them so that they would quickly divert their attention from her blonde friend, knowing that if she had been in her right mind she would have detested the looks.

"R-Rice kills birds! When I make everyone throw the rice, I'm making everyone kill birds! I'm _evil!_" She wailed again, louder this time, and Sakura winced, still as confused as ever, especially about how her best-friend was acting.

"Ino, we're not using rice. You said that you didn't want it getting in your hair." Ino blinked at her for a moment, huge tears still rolling down her face.

"R-Really?" Sakura nodded. "Then are we using bubbles?" Sakura's eyebrows scrunched together as she shook her head, watching as the blonde's face crumbled.

"You were afraid that the soap would stain your dress."

"B-B-But why? N-Now my wedding is going to _suck!_" Sakura rolled her eyes, already tired of this weepy side of Ino.

"Ino, you're giving everyone a box with a piece of paper jutsued to look and fly like a butterfly in it for them to release because you know that Choji likes butterflies and you wanted to surprise him." Ino blinked at her, her face momentarily clearing.

"That's pretty smart." Sakura nodded, eager now that she thought that the crying was over.

"Yeah, and you came up with it all by yourself." Watching as Ino's face once again fell, Sakura's shoulders sagged as she tried to figure out what it had been this time.

"T-Then it's going to mess up because everything I do messes up. I _suck!_" She wailed, and Sakura buried her face into her hands as her tried to count to ten, reminding herself that this was Ino's wedding day and not the proper time or place for her to throttle her.

Coming into the room Temari blinked at the complete 180 the bride had done, looking at her weeping figure with shock. "What happened?" She asked the pink haired woman, the only forthcoming answer being a crazed look as she threw her hands up into the air in defeat.

Looking around the room for anything that might have been a cause for her friend's sudden despair Temari's eye caught on the half empty bottle of champagne, and glancing at the other woman and then back at the bottle Temari sighed.

"Ino, how much champagne have you had?" The blonde hiccuped and shrugged, and Sakura sent a look up at the ceiling for help.

"She's a trained medic nin, so unless she was able to chug down three or four bottles in the amount of time we were gone she's not drunk. And you've seen Ino when she's drunk, you know that she's _nothing _like this." Temari shrugged.

"Different alcohols effect different people differently. Usually I'm good with most alcohol, but when I drink sake it's a whole other story."

"What happens?"

Temari got a strange look in her eye and she looked away, shaking her head as if even the memory was just too terrible to bear. "It's awful, trust me. But maybe Ino just isn't good with champagne." Sakura nodded, seeing it as the only possible explanation.

"Oy, Woman." They all looked over to see Shikamaru in the doorway, a disgruntled expression on his face as he tugged at his tie. "I came to get Kyoko to give her to my parents."

Temari rolled her eyes and was about to give one of her usual retorts when Ino sniffled loudly and stood up.

"You," She choked out, "Are such a good Daddy!" And she practically threw herself at the other man, wrapping her arms around him tightly as she sobbed, her tears starting over anew.

The look on Shikamaru's face, at that moment, was priceless. His eyes were halfway out of his head and a look of complete and utter fear covered his face as he stiffened in the woman's hold.

"What the hell?" He bit off, looking down at Ino with fear and concern. While she wasn't the most emotionally reliable person he knew she usually -make that she _never_- threw herself at him while crying uncontrollably.

"It seems like the champagne is making her weepy." Sakura told him, watching the man with sympathy. "Come on, Temari. We should get her off of him."

"Nah, I'm okay." She said, wishing so badly at that moment that she had a camera. Her husband's face was absolutely priceless and she would have given anything to have physical proof of the moment so that she could lord it over him for as long as possible.

"Damn it, Woman, get her off of me!" Shikamaru grunted, sending her an aggravated glare. "And fix her, or something. She can't go out there like this."

"I know a few tricks that might do it, but I need _help_," She said, sending a look at the amused blonde, "To get her off." Seeing the look in Sakura's eyes Temari rolled hers as she sighed, seeing that her fun was about to end.

It took the two of them to get a now limp -but _still _crying- Ino off of Shikamaru, who took his freedom gratefully and quickly escaped with it, not wanting to stay any longer in case he was attacked again.

Sakura quickly made some hand seals and pressed her glowing hands to Ino's abdomen, quickly battling the alcohol that filled her system as if it were a poison.

Ino blinked at them a few minutes later, clear eyed, and then looked at the bottle of champagne as if it were a deadly viper.

"Good God, get that stuff _out _of here." Everyone quickly nodded in agreement and disposed of the bottle and it's contents, coming back into the room immediately when they heard Ino scream.

"What? What is it?" Sakura asked, getting into her fighting stance as soon as she jumped into the room, managing to do it flawlessly even in her floor-length dress and heels.

"My makeup," Ino moaned, looking at herself in the mirror, almost ready to cry again at the sight of her completely ravaged face. "My face. This is _terrible_." Sakura relaxed and came over to the blonde, brushing her bangs out of her face so that she could get a better look at her.

"Yeah, you look like hell. But we can fix the swelling around your eyes pretty easily, the real problem will be getting the makeup off."

Temari stepped forward, pulling out a small tub of cream from her purse.

"Here, Kankuro had the same problem sometimes -not the crazy crying though, that's all you, Ino- and he used this. Got it all right off without a problem, and it moisturizes."

Ino sat still as Sakura began to liberally coat her face with the cream, hoping that they weren't going to be late because of her low tolerance of some stupid and cheap alcohol.

"I hate champagne. I'm never drinking it again. I don't care how damn happy the occasion is supposed to be." She muttered, the whole room nodding to show that they agreed wholeheartedly with her decision.

* * *

I don't know, don't ask. Just an idea that popped into my head and slapped me sideways (I couldn't think of anything for the proposal though, and I was going to include those in with each wedding)

These wedding things (along with most of my stories, if you have not noticed) are going to be pretty much from the female perspective, not just because that's like the whole main focus, but because I AM FEMALE. The lady in my name is just for kicks (It's actually because I'm so fabulous). It's because I am a girl, and I lean more to writing from the female perspective because that it what I know. I do write from male perspectives though, especially if I'm more comfortable with the character.

I was thinking and a sudden thought occurred to me. Both Ino and Choji (And Shikamaru) are going to be the heads of their clans (If i'm understanding this right)... so their children are their heirs.

Ringo will be the Yamanaka heir because of a little thing called metabolism. Ringo is one of those people who can eat as much as their skinny little hearts desire and will never gain a pound. EVER. She eats just as much as her sisters and her father but stays skinny, so she can't learn the Akimichi techniques.

I hate people like this. (Angrily eats a bowl of icecream) Just hate em.

Anzu will be the Akimichi heir, which is... don't they have a cousin or something? Ringo is... Ringo. She's loud, forward, cocky, tomboyish, unabashed and adventurous and Anzu is neat, tidy, picky, and girly.

Actually they will mature and everything will be fine. The one that can't do it is Kyoko. Kyoko is so absurdly immature that she couldn't lead a line in kindergarten, let alone a clan. Asuma would be better for that.

Bye bye!


	67. Sake, ShikaTema

I would have had this done earlier, but Kathy seems to be pulling mainly night shifts so it's been difficult to get her to work unless it's about 5 AM.

I really want a doughnut... Maybe I'll go to the store tomorrow.

This is the story behind Temari's sake incident (mentioned in the last chapter), and is also the beginning of Temari and Shikamaru's relationship.

* * *

Temari lay back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling in complete boredom, wondering when Shikamaru was going to get back to the apartment. She'd been waiting for over an hour for him to get his lazy ass back from doing whatever he was doing -probably watching some stupid cloud like the moron that he was- and she was getting tired of it. She didn't know what she was going to do if he didn't get back soon, but she did know that it was going to be violent and would probably piss him off.

Just as she was revving herself up to do some serious damage the front door swung open and Konoha's lazy genius was staring at her with his usual bored eyes.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her, his husky voice sending little thrills down her spine that she easily hid, continuing to lounge on his couch as if she hadn't a care in the world. As if she hadn't broken into his apartment and invaded his personal space.

"I got bored with being babysat and so I decided to come bother you for some kicks."

He sighed as if she were the most irksome woman he had ever encountered -and she supposed that she was- and closed the door behind him, hanging his chunin vest on a peg by the door before continuing in, stripping off his shirt as he walked past the couch to get to his dresser. It was only by sheer force of will and the thought that she would not loose in this battle they waged that kept Temari from watching him as he changed.

But she cursed the bastard for not getting an apartment that had rooms. What the hell was the appeal of a place that was just one big open space with a tiny raised kitchen in one corned and an even smaller bathroom in the other.

"Got any beer?" She asked easily, continuing to stare up at the ceiling as he finished, listening as he stepped up into the kitchen.

"No."

Temari wrinkled her nose. All she wanted right now was to pick at the Nara for a little while and drink some alcohol while she did it, not that big of demands, really.

"Well then, what do you have?" She asked, sitting up to glare at him over the back of the couch. "And if you have any of those fruity little wine coolers I'm going to lose my lunch after I murder what's left of your already castrated and stunted male pride."

The man raised his eyes to the ceiling as if to ask for divine council and opened one of the cupboards. "I have sake."

"Sake?" Temari asked disbelievingly, not able to remember if she had ever had the drink before.

"Kiba left it over here one day, probably the same day he drank all of my beer." Seeing the look on her face he sighed in exasperation. God, this woman was so annoying. Wasn't she the one that had broken into his peaceful apartment and disrupted what could have been a very nice afternoon of him doing nothing? She should be grateful he was offering her anything.

"Take it or leave it, Woman."

Temari glared at him. "Fine, I'll take it. And stop calling me woman, you ass."

"You're a woman, so I call you woman." He said as he started heating the drink up.

"Yeah, well, since you're a lazy bastard can I call you a lazy bastard?"

"You already do." He reminded her, "Frequently."

"Because you are." She told him easily. "And I may be a woman but when you call me that you're insulting my entire gender and that makes me want to shove you face first into a meat grinder."

Shikamaru stopped what he was doing briefly to wonder at how he could actually half-way like the woman's company even with her gruesome and bloody threats. Maybe he needed a psych evaluation.

Grabbing the cups he walked over to the couch and sat on the floor on the other side of the low coffee table, waiting for her to slide onto the floor opposite of him before he poured her drink.

"You know," She said pleasantly as she sipped. Not all that bad, though she still preferred beer. "I was going through all of your things to look for porn to lord over you and I wasn't able to find any." He stared at her unblinkingly for a moment, unsurprised that she had went through his things, trying to figure out where the conversation was going.

"And I just thought that it was an extremely strange thing for an eighteen year old man not to have any little dirty pictures or magazines, so I decided to go through your clothes -cute boxers by the way-" God, it was so fun to make him blush. "And you'll never guess what I found." She stared at him for a moment unblinkingly before he sighed, deciding the best way to get all of this to go by would be to humor her for a bit.

"You found nothing."

"I found nothing." She confirmed, nodding. "I mean, what the hell? Even I have porn, so what's the deal with you?" Shikamaru stared at her for long dragging moments and she could almost think -from the way he wasn't reacting and from his blank stare- that his thought process had ground to a halt. But she knew better than to think that. She knew that his brain never stopped working, analyzing everything and coming up with plans upon plans.

He was smart, and that was kind of sexy. And annoying.

"You have porn?" He finally asked, and Temari smirked as she drank the rest of the drink remaining in her little cup.

"Yep, toys too. More." She demanded, holding out her cup for him to refill, only to have him continue to stare at her in shock as a blush crept slowly across his face. She had to hold back her wicked grin, hiding it behind her impatience as she practically shoved her cup into his nose.

He was so fun to play with.

After two more cups and some more teasing Temari found that her head was pleasantly cloudy and her body warm. Stretching her arms up above her head she fell onto her back on the floor, closing her eyes as she tried to hold onto all of the happy feelings that were swimming through her.

She didn't think she'd ever felt quite so delicious before.

"Shikamaru~" She singsonged, giggling at the way his name felt coming off of her lips.

Shikamaru sat up and leaned over the table, looking down at the flushed form that lay on the floor, sighing heavily at how much more troublesome his evening had become all because of one woman.

"You're such a lightweight, getting drunk only after three cups." Temari opened her eyes and pouted up at Shikamaru childishly, flinging her hand up and poking him in his nose, both annoying and confusing the man.

"Noooo~ I'm not drunk!" She scolded, her hand falling back down to her side as Shikamaru frowned down at her.

"Oh, then what are you if not drunk?"

"I'm all... tingly." Temari said as she smiled and slid her arms up over her head, arching her body up slightly as she stretched, giggling again. Shikamaru flushed slightly at the sight and was thankful for her inebriated state for a moment. Not only would she have gotten onto him for ogling her if she had been in her right mind but he also would have never heard the end about his childishness if she had seen the blush at a simple thing like her stretching.

"You know," Temari said, her voice low and husky, sending little electric prickles down Shikamaru's spine that he did his best to ignore, "I'm always so... tingly when I'm around you." She opened her eyes back up and looked at Shikamaru again, her eyes filled with the bleary warmth of alcohol and another warmth that hit Shikamaru like a punch to the gut.

"It starts here," She said as she pressed a hand to her abdomen, slowly trailing her fingers up to press in the middle of her chest, "And then I feel all tingly and warm here and my heart won't stop beating." She blinked up at the wide-eyed man that was leaning over the little table to look down at her, grabbing his hand before he could react and bringing it to her breast.

"Feel that? It's always so fast and loud when you look at me that I think it's going to just come right out of my chest." She sighed, removing her hand from his and closing her eyes again, not looking up into the face of the now furiously blushing Nara.

After swallowing roughly, his Adam's apple bobbing, Shikamaru pulled his hand away from the woman's chest as he tried to think about anything other than the fast that he had just groped Temari and that she had basically forced him to.

It had been... soft.

Clearing his throat and trying to force away the blush that now covered almost his whole face Shikamaru stood up and walked around the table, bending over so that he could grab Temari and get her onto the couch before anything else happened. She was unpredictable the way she was at the moment and Shikamaru didn't want anything more to happen in case she remembered when she was back to normal and then tried to kill him.

But one of her legs moved and tripped him, making him fall towards her, catching himself with a hand on the either side of her head as he just barely stopped himself from landing fully on top of her.

"Shikamaru..." She sighed, shifting slightly beneath him as he shoved himself back up, her legs twisted with his keeping him from getting up all of the way. Shikamaru gaped at the sight before him: Temari's face flushed from the alcohol and her eyes clouded with it, her arms thrown wantonly above her head as she looked at him warmly, a happy little smile on her lips as her loosened hair tangled around her face. The top of her yukata had loosened and had fallen apart enough to reveal the red lace of a bra and more her lightly tanned skin, the garment opening further to reveal more of her with every breath she took.

Her hands moved until they were pressing against his abs, sliding upwards over his chest slowly and sensually as said she arched unconsciously, this time his name leaving her lips on a moan. Grabbing her hands by her wrists Shikamaru quickly removed them from him while he still had the good sense to, pinning them above her head as she moaned again and all of the blood in his head began the decent downwards.

"I had a dream like this once," She murmured in a husky voice that very nearly made him shiver, "Where you held me down with your shadow jutsu so that I couldn't move and then you touched me." Shikamaru stared wide-eyed down into her flushed face and her parted lips, wondering what the hell he was supposed to be doing with all of the information that she was giving him. He knew for certain that he wasn't going to act on any of it, not when she was drunk and out of her right mind. You just didn't do that to a woman, even if she was being incredibly tempting.

"Won't you touch me, Shika-kun?" Temari purred, arching again as Shikamaru almost lost his resolve at the inciting way the woman beneath him had said his new nickname.

"Keep your hands here," He told her, not all that sure what she would do with them if he let her free, "Got it?"

Hoping that she was about to get her way and live through her secret fantasy Temari eagerly nodded, watching as Shikamaru slowly pulled away and sat back, making a hand seal. But, she noted with some puzzlement, it was the wrong one.

Just as she was opening her mouth to question him Shikamaru growled "Sleeping jutsu." and her eyes snapped closed, her body going limp on the floor.

Breathing out a ragged breath Shikamaru roughly rubbed his hands over his face. After managing to free himself from her legs he stood up, looking down at her wearily.

Really, he should just leave her there on the floor in repayment for just how much trouble she had been for him, that way she'd wake up sore _and_ hungover, and if she remembered anything that she had done it would torture her just that much more.

But even while thinking of these things Shikamaru bent down and lifted her limp body up, her head lolling to his shoulder as he carried her over to his bed, laying her down and pulling the blanket up over her before turning and going over to the couch to lay down and go to sleep himself.

He figured that he'd have a long and difficult day ahead of him the next day because of the blonde that was currently lightly snoring in his bed, and that he had better get as much sleep as possible.

* * *

Temari rolled over and buried her face in the pillow, breathing in the foreign and masculine scent of woodsmoke and cinnamon, smiling slightly at it. She didn't know why her bed smelled like a certain little lazy Nara, but she wasn't going complain.

It was a really nice smell.

But thinking about the strange experience of her bed smelling like Shikamaru made her realize that she was not laying on top of the soft cotton sheets of her hotel bed and that the thin little mattress beneath her wasn't familiar.

And then, as the last wisps of sleep drifted away, she remembered.

Temari snapped up in the bed, her eyes quickly searching every inch of the apartment to see if the little Nara was anywhere to be seen, just waiting for her to wake up so that he could lord everything that had happened last night over her head. She had basically thrown herself at him last night trying to seduce him, and nothing had even come out of it since the bastard had been a complete gentleman and hadn't done anything to her, putting her under a sleeping jutsu and then giving her his bed.

Blowing out a breath Temari hurried quietly over to the door where her shoes were, her face set determinedly as she decided that she'd just have to never look at or talk to Nara Shikamaru ever again. Simple enough.

Just as she was slipping her first shoe on the bathroom door opened and she was caught, freezing in place the moment their eyes met. Shikamaru sighed, looking almost disappointed at her and the fact that she was running away, and took a step towards her.

"Temari-"

"I have no idea what happened last night or why I did any of that, especially since I had only three little pansy glasses of that stuff when I can go through cases of beer without any problems what so ever, so we can just blame the stupid sake." She was blushing, she could feel it and she knew that the stupid idiot across the room could see it. She was blushing and backing away from him as he came closer to her and she hated the stupidity of those signs of weakness.

"All we have to do is forget about this whole thing and never bring it up or even _think _about it again and- Will you stop coming closer because I swear if you even think about taking one more step I will beat you so badly that they won't even be able to identify the body!" Her back hit the wall behind her and her eyes widened before narrowing on his as he continued to get even closer, glaring furiously as that damnable blush continued to grow on her face.

"I mean it, you stupid lazy bast-" And his lips were pressing against hers to cut her off as his hands hit the wall on either side of her head, caging her in as he furiously assaulted her mouth and her senses, giving no mercy as he forced her mouth open so that he could plunder.

She was frozen in place for a moment before she began to melt, and for a moment she allowed herself to be carried along before her good sense came back to her. Mentally biting off a curse Temari moved her hands to his shoulders, gripping hard as she tilted her head and began the battle for dominance -a battle she was determined not to lose.

Temari managed to kick off her one shoe as she shifted her hold and jumped up so that her legs were twisted around his waist, knocking Shikamaru off balance so that he stumbled back a few steps, his control faltering for just the barest moment as Temari immediately swooped in for the kill, commanding the kiss and him.

She tore the tie out of Shikamaru's hair to let it free, quickly burying her hands into the strands gripping hard as she pulled back to look into his eyes and pant. "Bed." She growled, nipping his chin, "Now."

And as his hands shifted to grip her butt as he strode over to the bed, still under the hard assault of her mouth, all Temari could think was that it was about damn time.

* * *

Tada!

I don't know, but as soon as I wrote down that line in the last chapter this came to me and I knew that I had to write it down.

Hmm... Whenever I write for this couple it's either Temari being tortured or them in bed. Maybe I have a problem...

Pfft. Please, I _know _I have a problem.

Well, my winter break is over at school so I'll be going back tomorrow and I'll be starting my math class (this year we only had half year courses in some of the classes)

Happy new year!


	68. Tears

I'm back! Oh, my darlings, how I have missed you! This has been my longest absence thus far (Eleven days), and I have regretted every day of it!

There was a lot of stuff going on with school starting up again and then my friend _had _to come over to spend the weekend (this was hell) and then I had a mock AP exam (I got the highest out of the entire school for the multiple choice!) and I had to go to an art gallery opening (where I was unable to buy any of the pretty shiny things because I ain't gots any monies) and _then_, to top it all of, Kathy just up and left me in the middle of writing a chapter, which I then deleted because it supremely sucked and I didn't want to subject you dears to that. (sorry for the rant)

This chapter is in two parts and I just wanted to write it to show you the relationship between Ringo and Asuma. It definitely isn't one of my best, but I felt really bad for leaving you guys for so long with nothing.

So here we go!

* * *

Ringo had always understood that she wasn't quite what her had wanted in a daughter. Ino had wanted a quiet, dainty, lacy little pink taffeta doll, and instead she had gotten, well… her.

Sure, she could have tried not to play so roughly that she scraped her knees bloody and her hands raw, and she supposed that she could have tried not to be positively disgusted by the fluffy bows and dresses her mother tried to force on her, but she just _couldn't._

She _liked _playing so hard that she fell and tumbled, scratching her skin so much that she could no longer feel the sting. She _liked _climbing trees and getting dirty, and she _liked _wearing clothes that she could run in.

She liked being Ringo, and it hurt that her mother was unable to say the same.

One day when she was ten, after yet another little spat with her mother about how she could own an outfit for a week before ruining it, Ringo decided that the best thing to do would be to run away. Her mother would never have to deal with her scraped knees and dirty clothes again and she would be able to play as roughly and as often as she wanted. And she'd be fine, after all, she was going to the ninja academy.

It had been a simple thing to just walk away, most people only thinking that she was going to be playing outside of the village for a few minutes. But she didn't stop at her favorite tree climbing spot and she didn't stop at the little pond that the older children favored, she just kept on walking until it got dark.

It wasn't so bad, really, but then she ran out of the snacks she had brought that were supposed to last her until the next village, and then as the night fell the temperature went along with it, making the girl shiver in her short sleeved shirt and shorts, and then to make it better she tripped over a rabbit hole and twisted her ankle.

After sitting on the cold dirt ground for a minute, biting her lip as she struggled over her hold on her tears, Ringo stood and limped over to a random tree, struggling up to a high branch and wincing every time she jarred her new injury.

Shifting slightly to get comfortable Ringo pressed her hand lightly to her ankle, whimpering at pain that shot through her nerves, wiping at the tears that snuck through her guard. Curling up as best as she could she slipped her arms through the sleeves of her shirt, wrapping them around herself as she fought not to shiver.

She was so cold and hungry and tired, and her leg hurt more than she had ever thought that it had before. She obviously hadn't thought this through, and all she wanted to do now was go back home.

Sniffling, she curled up tighter, trying to figure out if she could last the night so that she could make her way home when it got light again, though with her ankle and how cold it was she wasn't all that sure that it would be happening.

There was a rustling from beneath the tree and then Ringo listened to the sound of the branches moving as something made its way up to her. She stiffened, pressing up against the bark of the tree as she tried to steady her breathing, wondering what kind of animal it would be, steadying herself so that she could fight it off if needed be.

Long and slim fingers wrapped around the branch, a blonde head with wide green eyes popping up moments later, swinging up onto the branch beside her, and seeing the familiar features Ringo breathed out a shaky breath in relief.

"Asuma." She sighed, looking into his delicate face and his wide, steady eyes and just wanting to throw herself at him and start bawling like a baby. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged and and sat, crossing his legs beneath him and managing to perfectly keep his balance on the branch, slipping his hands into the deep pockets of his baggy hoodie. "Everyone is out looking for you, and I figured that I would help out and search for you too."

"How did you find me?" She asked, wondering at how he was able to beat fully seasoned ninjas if they were actually all searching for her. He shrugged again.

"Instinct." He stared hard at her for a moment and Ringo looked away, rubbing her arm beneath her nose as she looked away from him and into the dense leaves that surrounded them.

"Ringo-"

"Shut up, idiot, and stop looking at me. I'm not crying, got it?" He stared at her for another moment before nodding, standing up smoothly without slipping his hands from their warm home in his pockets. Ringo had to wonder if he was doing that because he knew it made him look cool, and decided that if that was the case he was probably the biggest idiot he had ever met.

"Fine. Now come on, I want to get home and you need to apologize for pulling this stupid stunt." Ringo nodded and hesitated, looking down at her up-drawn knees.

"I... twisted my ankle. I can't move it." Asuma stared down at her for another moment before sighing heavily, turning away from her and crouching down.

"Asu-" She started, but was cut off when the boy sent a firm look at her over his shoulder.

"Just get on and be quick about it." He told her, and though he tried to hide it Ringo could see just the slightest hint of a blush through the darkness.

Ringo hesitated for a moment longer. Asuma was the shortest boy in their class and was almost a good half a foot shorter than her, not to mention just how all around tiny he was. He hid himself in baggy jeans and hoodies but Ringo knew how small he actually was, and she knew that he looked more like a delicate doll than a ninja in training.

But taking a breath she put faith in her best friend and wrapped her arms around his neck, tightening her hold briefly as she jumped slightly up and as he caught her legs in his hands, bringing them around his waist as he stood up.

They stood still for a moment as Asuma balanced himself and then he carefully made his way down to the forest floor, keeping a steady grip on Ringo's legs as she gripped his shoulders, both of them quiet until they had managed to safely arrive on solid ground.

"So what was your plan?" He asked her as he started back towards Konoha and Ringo shrugged, tilting her head back to peer up at the clear night sky.

"I'm not really sure. I guess I was just kind of fed up with Mom trying to force me to be a doll and I decided that we'd both be happier if I just went away." Asuma grunted and Ringo chuckled, propping her chin on the back of his head. "It didn't really work out all that well."

They walked on in silence for a little bit more until Asuma spoke up, obviously having thought over what she had said carefully. "I get that you don't like what your mom is trying to do to you with the dresses and everything, but you need to see that it isn't like she's trying to throw you into a lake of acid. She just doesn't understand you."

"She understands Anzu just fine." Ringo pouted, resenting this tiny and yet enormous fact.

"Yes, but what does that matter? It isn't like you understand your mother either, so stop acting so stupid. And it's her job to try and force you to do things you don't want to do, that's what parenting is all about." She snorted and shivered slightly as the wind whipped against her exposed skin, trying to get closer to the warmth that almost seemed to radiate from Asuma's back.

Feeling her shiver Asuma stopped and without a word sat her down and pulled off his hoodie, tugging it over her head and ignoring her protests until it was on her, crouching back down again for her to crawl back onto his back.

Ringo briefly thought about putting up more of a struggle -after all, he was treating her like a child- but it was so warm and it actually fit her since it was so big on Asuma, so she held back her protests and crawled back onto him.

There was another, slightly longer silence before Ringo sighed, dropping her head down onto his shoulder and closing her eyes as the stupid tears threatened to come again.

"It's just that I'm just... not what she wants."

There were times she wished that she could be prettier, that she could be softer and gentler and have the general air of grace and girlishness that the other girls Ringo sometimes saw had. She wished that she could wear dresses and jewelry, and that wearing her hair down for any length of time wasn't such a huge battle. She wished that she could be more, that way her mother wouldn't have to wish for it.

"Maybe not, but you're what she has, and if you'd stop being stupid you could see that she loves you and not the other you that you think she wants. She'd probably get sick of the other you after a few days anyway."

Ringo smiled and wrapped her arms around him just the slightest bit more, tightening them so that she was hugging him, smiling slightly as she snuggled into the surprising security she found in his slim shoulders and back.

"How _did_ you find me?" She suddenly asked, not believing for a second about his excuse of "Instinct", propping her chin on his shoulder and tilting her head to try and get a better look at his face.

"Idiot." He sighed as if she were a dull child, "Of course I found you. You're my best friend no matter how stupid you act, and there's nothing that could happen that could keep me from getting to you when you need me." Ringo blinked at the strength in Asuma's declaration before allowing a small and soft smile to curve her lips and snuggling into his back, feeling perfectly content with where she was at and how easily she was depending on him.

"Thank you, Asu-chan." She murmured and Asuma snorted in agitation.

"I told you not to call me that." He reminded her, but she could tell by the tone of his voice that he didn't really care.

* * *

Asuma didn't know what to do, didn't know what to think. There was a part of him that told him to be happy and that this was a good thing, but that part was so tiny it was almost nonexistent and was easily overshadowed by the more dominant part of him that just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry until he had no more tears left.

She had come back.

His aunt Ino was trying to talk to Kyoko, trying to explain everything to the overly emotional girl and he could hear her shouts through the walls, could hear the pain and the anger and the frustration in her voice that she was venting so easily. It hurt him to listen to her, hurt him to know that there was no going back any longer to the life that they had easily led just hours ago, and with this hurt laying heavily over his heart he stepped out of the window and ran as fast as he could.

There was no destination in mind, no set place that he was actually heading towards, but he knew that he just had to get as far away as possible before he broke.

He made it to the small hill that he and Ringo frequented, sitting down next to the lone tree that crowned it and curling up as he tried to keep the pain from becoming too overwhelming. Resting his head on his up-drawn knees he closed his eyes and bit his lip, praying that something, anything, could come and save him from drowning in this overwhelming sea of insecurities he had found himself thrashing in.

"Asuma." He jerked back at the sound of the familiar voice, looking up at his best friend, his confidant, the shock of his name forcing the tears he had been valiantly holding back to begin to fall.

Ringo watched the heartbreaking sight for a lone and silent moment, staring into his tear filled green eyes as a piece of her heart broke for him.

"Ringo," He choked out, not trying to stop the tears that seemed to pour endlessly from his eyes, "I don't… She just…" And without a word Ringo dropped down in front of him and pulled him to her, wrapping her arms around him to hold him close. His arms came up and wrapped gently around her, but after a beat he tightened his grip and held on desperately, as if she was the only lifeline he had left.

He buried his face into her throat as he began to sob, squeezing her so tightly that there was a threat of her not being able to breathe after a few moments of the treatment. Ringo listened to the sound of his broken sobs as they were ripped from his chest, hot tears running furiously down her throat to be soaked up by the fabric of her T-shirt.

Neither of them knew how long they stayed there, Asuma's tears seemingly never ending, but eventually his choking cries decreased in volume and his tears started to slow until the two of them were just sitting there, Asuma's breathing ragged as he refused to give up his hold on Ringo.

"She came back." He whispered, closing his slightly swollen eyes as he relaxed, the repetitive and soothing strokes of Ringo's hand against his back calming him. She nodded and waited for him to continue.

"What am I supposed to do now? We... She hasn't been here in so long and some would say that Maria took her place but..." He let out a shaky breath, "It just felt so good to see her."

"What did she look like?" There was a pause that lay so heavily around them that it nearly suffocated them, and Ringo was about to take back the question when he quietly answered.

"Broken." He whispered, "She looked broken, like a single touch could tear her apart, and her eyes were so hurt that it felt like something was stabbing me in my heart. But when she saw Kyoko and me it was like all of that went away and she looked so happy, like we had magically fixed everything that was wrong with her just by being there."

"I mean," He said so quietly that she strained to hear it, "How can a person look at someone like that?"

Ringo didn't shrug since the sudden and sharp movement would have dislodged Asuma, but she did try to silently convey her sympathy.

"It isn't the fact that she's back that is bothering me, it's just that I didn't understand how deeply I had missed her. And I know that it's kind of stupid since I can't remember anything about her."

"That's not true," Ringo gently told him, one of her hands coming up to gently smooth down his wheat blonde hair, "You remember that you love her."

Asuma pulled back enough to look up at her, blinking his tear swollen eyes at her as he thought over her words, a glowing smile finally spreading over his face as he held the wisdom and truth of her words close.

"Thank you, Ringo." He quietly and gratefully said, though the girl just waved his words away as if they were bothersome bugs.

"Please, it was nothing. I didn't even do anything, and you were the one who was crying all over me like you were a little girl." Asuma snorted lightly at the girl's attempt to lighten the mood and brought her close again for another hug, surprising Ringo since neither one of them were really the touchy feely types without a reason, such as comfort in a maternal crisis.

"You always know what to say to make everything better." He told her, the relief in his voice clearly evident and he held her tightly, acting almost as if he never wanted to let her go.

"With you," She said, wrapping her arms around him in turn, "Always."

* * *

Well, there you go.

Oh, and Ino eventually accepts that Ringo is Ringo, and she loves Ringo but she just has a difficult time understanding her.

I always try to write enough that you never have a very long wait in between chapters (because I know what a terrible experience that is), but I hope you all understand that there will be times that I get busy, but I will always try and make sure that it is never longer than a week or so.

And now, to say something to my newest and dearest little darling jayjoan: I. Love. You.

This person called _me_ a goddess and said that there were zero imperfections in my ShikaTema storyline (a lie, but it made me _sooo_ happy to read this), and I have to thank you for literally making my week.

Also, I will now be requireing all of you to call me a Goddess now. Hahaha...

I'm being serious.

And to fearless-forever98- Songs for my pairings? Well, that sounds absolutely fantastic. Thank you Josh (and I have a foam turtle that I named Steve!)

I'll see you all as soon as possible! Lots of love from the Goddess (I am never letting this go. Ever.)


	69. Brothers, ShikaTema

Look! A chapter! It's so shiny and new!

I, as the Goddess I am (told you that I'm never going to let it go), torture myself over the waiting that you guys go through for chapters because I know what that is like too, so I will try my best to update a lot. Though with college starting in a couple months and 68 chapters (me oh my, isn't that a pretty number?) I can already tell you that there will be some times that I can't update as often as I do.

This little tidbit was written for Hektols a darling little person who has commented on my every chapter and has offered me numerous and helpful critiques. So as one of my most precious little cuties when he asked:

**"Will we see the reactions for Temari's return from her siblings soon?"**

I said "Yes, you will."

And here we go!

* * *

Temari had never really understood what kind of a demon the clock was until she was stuck holding a staring contest with it for nearly half an hour. She glared at it and urged it to go faster but it still continued to tick the minutes by in an achingly slow fashion that was guaranteeing its imminent doom.

"The only reason you think it's taking so long is because you're staring at it."

"Shut up," Temari growled as she turned her glare to Shikamaru, "I'm not staring." But even though she denied it her eyes immediately flicked back to the clock, nearly groaning in defeat when she noticed that the little hands hadn't moved at all.

"You weren't even this nervous when your brothers found out we were sleeping together." Shikamaru said, yawning and then grunting when Temari dug her elbow sharply into his stomach.

"Shut up. I'm not nervous, I'm just… concerned. After all, it's a pretty long trip for them to take for something so trivial." She defended, having to stop herself from gnawing on her thumbnail as she continued to watch that damned motionless clock hand.

"They've made the trip nearly a hundred times before and there have never been any real problems, and there is no way that you are something trivial." Temari's heart jumped at his words, at the surprising sweetness in them that she thought she would never get used to. It wasn't like he hadn't been sweet before, he had just covered it all up with his ass-hat lazy attitude and had only let it really shine through on only the rarest occasions.

But now that she had finally come back to him it was almost as if he didn't want to cover it up any more and wanted to let her know how much he really cared for her, wanted to stop twisting everything around to just cherish both her and the them they were together because they were both painfully aware of how easily their time together could be stolen.

He was still a lazy ass though.

She continued to anxiously watch the clock but let her hand slip down onto the couch cushions, her fingers tentatively twining with his, the strength she found in his hand managing to calm her.

If anyone had been watching them they would have thought that the two were just barely dating instead of having been married for as long as they had been, but the truth was that such touches were not the kind that the couple had normally shared before their ten years apart. But now that they knew what they had to lose, now that they knew what it was like to not hold each other for so achingly long, they found themselves far more willing and able to cherish the smaller and sweeter things they had together, rare that they still were.

When a knock echoed through the house Temari jumped and quickly snatched her hand back like a nervous teenager caught by her stern parents, her eyes wide as she realized that there would be no more waiting and that she was going to be faced with what she had been anxiously waiting for in mere moments.

All she could think about was that she needed some more time.

Shikamaru pushed himself off of the couch with a sigh, seeing that his wife had become suddenly petrified and would obviously be unable to get up and answer the door. He opened the door to the two stern-faced and travel-weary men, nodding slightly to them as he leaned against the door frame, blocking them from getting in.

"Gaara, Kankuro, nice seeing you again."

"Cut the crap, Nara, and tell us where our sister is." Kankuro growled, eyes narrowed threateningly at the man. "It's bad enough that you waited a month until you told us and then made us stay away for a few more until _you_ decided to let us come. You are _not_ going to make us wait any more if you know what's good for you and that annoying face of yours." He threatened, Gaara's normally stoic face flickering with the same impatience and anger as he nodded.

"I agree." He said, already more than willing to call out his sand if they were detained any longer. After ten years of not knowing and months of waiting they had made the usually three day trip between the villages in a mere two exhausting days, anxious to see actual physical proof that this was not some cruel joke that was being played on them. They were both more than ready to kill -brother-in-law or not- to get to their goal.

"I think it would be best if you-"

"Garra." Both of the brothers' heads snapped up as their eyes immediately searched for the source of the voice, almost not daring to believe. "Kankuro."

Shikamaru moved back but none of the siblings noticed, too focused on one another to do anything more than stare at each other and take in every detail that had been missed for ten long years.

Temari wondered at how long they would stand there in the front hall just gaping at each other, the door wide open and Shikamaru leaning against the wall, staring up at the ceiling to give them a tiny slice of something that would resemble privacy so not to intrude on this personal moment.

They were staring at her like she was something fragile that was about to break, like she was just some figment of their imagination that would be reduced to dust if they even dared to move toward her. She knew that she'd have to make the first move but she just couldn't figure out what it could be.

She tried to figure out what she would have done before. Would she have walked up to them? Would she have smiled and waved, maybe shook their hands? There had never been any affectionate feelings or gestures between the three of them, and the relationships between them were based more on mutual respect and something that might have bordered on love and affection. So what was she supposed to do?

She took a slow and tentative step towards the pair and then another and another until she was running those last few steps, throwing her arms around them and drawing them close as she breathed in the mixed and surprisingly comforting scents of face paint and desert sand.

And as the three of them stood there breathlessly they held onto each other desperately as they tried to ease the wounds caused by the painful years apart.

* * *

Not much, but there is a definite chance of continuing.

To my newest reviewer Amanda: Oh, my darling, I missed you too! Oh, but as they say: Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

And now something else that is new:

As all of you know some writers post stories on here that get lots and lots of beautiful fan art. Well, those losers should just go sit in a corner and cry like pudgy little monkey babies because I got a fan _song _written for me.

Oh yeah, you read that right.

It was written by the darling fearless-forever98 and her muse Josh, and here it is:

_Faith Like Nothing Else_- shikatema

She was a wild thing  
No man could hold her down  
She wasn't ready to admit  
About that person that made her frown  
He was a little to cocky for his own good  
Meanwhile she was plain misunderstood  
And that's how their story began

Through the wind and the rain they still hear each others names  
Amidst the silence, they wait  
They know one day it'll never be the same  
But the pieces are still there  
And with a little glue maybe it'll be just like it used to be  
They have a faith like nothing else

He knew just about everything  
But he wasn't ready for people to see  
He wasn't ready for that puzzle  
The dirty blond with the eyes of green  
He was a little too cocky for his own good  
Meanwhile she was plain misunderstood  
And that's how their story went on

Through the wind and the rain they still hear each others names  
Amidst the silence, they wait  
They know one day it'll never be the same  
But the pieces are still there  
And with a little glue maybe it'll be just like it used to be  
They have a faith like nothing else

They never really had a fairy tale  
But yet they still had their own world  
When they met it wasn't by chance  
And though sometimes they cried  
In truth, they never lied  
Because somehow they knew

Through the wind and the rain they still hear each others names  
Amidst the silence, they wait  
They know one day it'll never be the same  
But the pieces are still there  
And with a little glue maybe it'll be just like it used to be  
They have a faith like nothing else

Now somebody go sing that and post a video of it so that I can hear it. Now. I think she mentioned something about it being a country song.

Good bye, my darlings, I'll be back!  
(And I totally just said that in the Terminator voice out loud and got a lot of weird looks from my family)


	70. Boredom

Look! Another chapter! Maybe I'm getting back into the swing of things.

Just a little tidbit about Rin and how she started her great adventure to become the sword master that she is.

* * *

Sunlight shined through gauzy flower printed curtains, making the light that drifted over the walls a happy shade of pink that usually delighted the six year old that was sitting on the floor, smiling dolls surrounding her as proof of her attempts to pass the time playing as she always did on her days off from the academy. But she had long ago given up pretending that she was having any fun, bored in a way that she would have sworn to be agonizing if anyone had asked.

With a sigh Rin pushed up from the floor, shuffling across the carpeted floor to her bed so that she could flop down on it, her face buried in the soft comforter. There was absolutely nothing to do. She had tried playing with her dolls in the pretty little doll house but there was only so much she could do with little plastic people before it got terribly redundant, and she had colored for a little bit but it was always so much better when her mom colored with her and done funny things like color the sky orange or make someone's skin green.

She had gone to ask the babysitter to play with her since both of her parents were gone, but the elderly Hyuuga woman had fallen asleep on the couch while knitting what Rin could only guess would be a sweater or maybe a warped hat. Tea parties weren't nearly as fun without real cookies, and the cookie jar had been placed on top of the fridge and she hadn't been able to reach it.

So really, there was just nothing to do.

With another weary sigh Rin rolled over onto her back, her wide white eyes staring up at the ceiling boredly as she tried to think of something to do to pass the time until her parents got back or the babysitter woke up.

Reaching out a hand she grabbed onto one of the numerous stuffed animals and dolls that littered her bed, setting the funny looking dragon on her stomach as she idly played with one of its felt scales. She stared into its goofily grinning face for a moment before smiling and giggling lightly, the funny expression with the tongue hanging out of it's mouth amusing her as it always did.

Suddenly thinking of something she could do Rin sat up, wrapping her arms around the toy as she thought over her forming plan.

There was one room in the house that was almost completely unexplored by the girl, a room that her mother and father had forbidden her to go in unless they were with her. She had never really wanted to go in the room until now, but her boredom had caused her to become almost desperate for some kind of entertainment. Maybe there would be something in that room for her to do.

"They wouldn't know, right Bo?" She asked her new co-conspirator, nodding as if the little plush had answered her. "Yeah, and they won't be back until later, so lets go!" She said, happily hopping off of the bed, her dragon companion still in her arms.

Slowly and silently opening the door she peeked her head out, looking left and right before tip-toeing out of the room, creeping down the hall as silently as possible, giggling to herself as she thought about how she was being a ninja just like her parents. Like an ANBU.

Her eyes lighting up in delight Rin quickly turned around and ran back into her room, hurrying over to her dress-up chest and pushing aside her ballerina tu-tus and princess dresses until she found the mask she had gotten at the last festival. It was white -just like the ANBU- with sparkly pink and purple butterfly wings sprouting out from the eye-slits. Slipping it on Rin grinned proudly before looking down at Bo, setting him down on the floor and leaving him there since she only had one mask and this was going to be an ANBU mission.

She crept across the house and to the closed and forbidden door, holding her breath as she eased it open and sneaked inside. Once inside she looked around expecting something -anything really- but all there was was a room full of her mother's weapon collection.

Rin supposed that there was something a bit different about the sharp blades that littered the tables and walls, but really they didn't look that much different than dinner knifes to her. The spiky balls with the chain looked sort of neat, and there were these short scythe things that looked cool, but none of it really caught her attention.

But that was until she turned her head and saw _it._

It sat in a wooden stand above everything else and it looked beautiful in a way that nothing else could- an elegant curve and a graceful shine setting it apart from everything else in the room.

She pushed aside her mask, not noticing when it dropped to the floor with a dull thunk, stepping forward to lightly touch the cool metal that looked as if it should have been on fire, a fingertip lightly tracing the smooth side before she touched the edge of the blade, jerking her hand back to watch as a drop of scarlet blood bloomed from from the small wound.

"Ow." She whimpered, bringing the finger to her mouth to suck the blood away as her eyes prickled from the slight and stinging pain.

"That's what you get."

Rin whipped around to stare wide eyed at the woman leaning in the doorway, her face flushing from the shame and embarrassment of being caught.

"Hi Mama." She said after she got over the shock, smiling at the woman sweetly in the hope that she could somehow be let off without any punishment for breaking the rules.

"Hello." She said, the smirk on her face obviously saying that she wasn't falling for the sweet little angel routine. "And what exactly are you doing in here, Little miss?"

"Ah..." Rin looked down at the floor, tracing circles on the wood with her toe, "I was exploring."

Tenten nodded and walked over, crouching down to pick up the discarded mask and looking down at it in amusement. "I see. And what did you find?"

The little girl shrugged and started to play with the skirt of her dress, biting her lip nervously. "Nothing."

"Nothing except my weapons room, right?"

"Yeah." She muttered, trying her hardest not to meet her mother's eyes.

"Rin, we told you not to come in here without us. What if you had cut more than just your finger?"

"Sorry Mama." Rin sighed, looking back at the blade behind her. "It's just... so pretty."

Tenten's eyebrow raised as she wondered if her daughter had inherited her love of weapons, though from the way she was only focused on the one it seemed that it was only for the kantana. With a sigh Tenten gave into the almost reverent light her daughter's eyes held as she watched the blade and reached past the girl, gently lifting the sword from its holder.

"Hold it like this," Tenten instructed, showing the small girl before handing it over to her, watching as the delicate hands wrapped around the fearsome weapon, her arms sinking slightly from the sudden weight.

Tenten watched the small girl as she adjusted herself to the feeling of the weapon, watched her face as she studied the delicate and dangerous curve of the blade, the glint of the metal in the shining light. And in the small and awestruck child she saw an approaching future that she wasn't sure she was all that comfortable with.

"If you'd like," Tenten said quietly, "I can start training you if you want to try it." If Rin became serious about it she'd have to get someone more familiar with the weapon, but she could easily teach her the basics.

Rin's eyes widened and she gaped at her mother, nodding quickly as if she was afraid that she would take the offer back. "Really? Will you?"

Tenten grinned and nodded, taking the weapon back to set it back into its place before turning to lightly push the girl out of the room.

"Of course I will, but only after you're un-grounded for disobeying the rules." Rin pouted as she watched her mother close up the room, crossing her arms over her chest.

"How long?" She asked, her eyes begging her mother to be easy on her.

"Two weeks with good behavior. And get that frown off of your face, it isn't like I'm going to torture you with pointy sticks. You just can't have any desert or go out anywhere to play."

Rin sighed again, understanding that she was in for two very long and boring weeks.

* * *

Well then, there it is!

I never planned for Rin to be this spoiled little princess, but I guess that that is what this whole Kathy thing is about. I want to do something one way and Kathy shoots me in the foot and does it her own way.

Oh, and guess who has over 20000 views? Go on, guess.

That's right, this girl here.

And a big thank you to a darling little dear who helped me by pointing out that one of my chapters had been posted over another by accident. And so, damnyank09, thank you you sweet little darling you!

See you around, my posse.


	71. Ceremonies, NaruHina

Hello my lovlies! That's right, another chapter has been gifted to you from the most wonderful and delightful me!

Please, hold your applause.

This one is for my new little darling BeInfinitexx (Hello there!) who asked:

**"how do the Uzumaki kids act when they have to make public appearances with their dad or when he makes speeches and they have to be present? Is everything hectic or are they angels? Do the kids like the limelight?"**

And here is my answer!

* * *

Hinata sighed as she tried to comb her eldest son's hair into something a little less... wild. It was even worse than Naruto's little spikes, thick and uncontrollable in a way that Naruto's had never dared to be, the vibrant red color just adding to the air of pure wildness that seemed to surround the child. Really, it was almost comical how fitting the boy's name was.

"Moooom." The boy finally whined after valiantly sitting through almost three minutes of his mother's torture silently. With another sigh Hinata gave up and allowed the boy to dash away, holding his newly earned freedom close as he went to the other side of the room to do something that Hinata dearly hoped wouldn't ruin his nice outfit.

"Mom," Hinata turned to see Yuki, her pale formal kimono and up-swept hair making her the perfect picture of a little lady, though the light grimace on her face somewhat sullied the image. "My obi is loose. Can you fix it for me?"

Hinata moved behind the girl and began to efficiently fix the garment as the other twin came up beside her, shoving her hair behind her ear as she watched.

"I could have done it for you, you know." Yuka huffed, tugging at the sleeves of her red kimono. "I don't see why you had to come over here and bother Mom when I was right there." Yuki rolled her eyes at her and smacked at her hands for her to stop fidgeting.

"Because you always get it too tight." She said, smiling over her shoulder at her mother in thanks before grabbing her twin and tugging her to sit over on one of the couches, trying to keep her and Leo apart until the ceremony was over with, a personal mission bestowed on her by her mother so that there wouldn't be any bloodshed or fighting to ruin the day.

Hinata turned again and was met with the sight of her ever silent youngest standing beside her, looking up at her with his steady white eyes. Hinata crouched down and smoothed her hand over Mino's hair, smiling at the boy gently.

"Did you need something too?" She asked and the boy shook his head, his gaze never breaking from hers in a way that unnerved most of the people that dealt with the five year old.

"I think Daddy does though." He said, and Hinata looked over the boy's shoulder to see that her husband did seem to be in some state of distress if the way his face was scrunched up was telling. With a sigh and a nod she moved past the boy to get to Naruto, sitting on the arm of his chair to study the paper he was focused on.

Seeing nothing but a rough outline of what she guessed his speech was supposed to be Hinata ran her fingers soothingly through his hair, making the man close his eyes and lean slightly into her touch.

"Is anything wrong, Naruto?" She asked quietly. Naruto looked up at her concerned face with a twisted smile that was halfway to a grimace, holding up the paper in his hand.

"I'm having some trouble reading this and it's getting kind of annoying." He told her, watching her face as she leaned in a bit more to take another look at the paper. Hinata blinked and then looked over at her husband, watching him steadily as her lips lightly twitched at the corners with humor and the slightest bit of annoyance.

"Naruto, this is your handwriting." She said and the blonde headed Hokage slumped back in his seat in defeat, sighing heavily.

"I know." He grumbled and Hinata just shook her head at him, beginning to run her fingers through his hair again.

"Why don't you have your assistant type it up for you so that you can actually read it?" Naruto closed his eyes and snorted, relaxing as he was soothed by her touch.

"The last time I tried that it was all pink and squiggly and it had butterflies and flowers all over it. I looked stupid holding it and I couldn't even read it." Hinata felt her lips begin to curve at the amusement she found in her poor husband's troubles and made sure to hide any trace of the emotion from her voice when she spoke.

"It will be fine, you don't need the paper anyway. After all, whenever you get out there you always just say whatever you feel like no matter what and it always turns out wonderful." Naruto opened his eyes to smile up at her thankfully, squeezing her hand lightly before jumping up and crumpling the paper into a ball and throwing it across the room and into the trash.

"Hey, Leo!" He shouted as he made his way to his son, easily leaving behind whatever slight worries might have been bothering him earlier as he went to find out what his son was doing so that he could pass the time before the ceremony began.

Hinata smiled at the sweet scene of her family, all dressed up and pretty, and she was still smiling as she called out to the person who was currently trying their best to sneak past her.

"I don't know where you've been or what you think you're doing, but you are well over an hour late and there is no way I could be so blind as to not notice." She turned her head to direct her smile towards the hidden form of her eldest, her eyes raking over the girl as she stepped out into the open.

"Mom, I have a good reason for being late." Kori began, but her mother's bland look managed to stop her.

"I'm sure you do, but I have to wonder how you're going to use that same excuse for you not being dressed in the kimono I had set out for you." Hinata sighed at the look her daughter sent her and glanced over the girl's regular ninja wear with disappointment, though she supposed it was better than sweatpants and a T-shirt.

"Ah... Sorry. But you know that that wouldn't have worked out, I look terrible in a kimono." Hinata rolled her eyes, something she had long ago picked up from her children and husband, and grabbed the teenager's arm, tugging her over to the couch so that she could keep an eye on her as if she was going to just disappear –something that wasn't really that farfetched.

"You only think that because you hate them. Now tell me why you're late." She demanded and Kori smiled nervously as she tried to think of something, practically jumping for joy when they were told that it was time for the speech.

"Oh, well, sorry Mom, maybe later." Kori said, hopping over to her siblings quickly. They made their way out to the balcony and lined up a bit off to the side, Hinata standing proudly and elegantly behind them. The crowd below them cheered and then Naruto started his speech, all of the children immediately zoning out though they showed it to different degrees.

Kori stared off into the crowd gathered below, glancing over all of the deceptively little looking people and smiling when she saw someone she recognized and they waved. Yuki attempted to watch and listen to her father but eventually her mind wandered and she ended up staring off into space, thinking over some of the scrolls she and Yuka had recently gone over together while said twin was engaging in a little war of the words with the elder of their two brothers, the youngest actually looking like he was the only one other than their mother who was paying attention.

"Do you hear that?" Leo hissed, earning a sharp sideways glare from his sister.

"What? All I hear is your stupid voice." She hissed back.

"My voice isn't stupid, and there's some sort of buzzing, like a pest." He blinked and then smirked at the girl beside him. "Oh, never mind, that's just you and your annoying face."

"Oh yeah, that one really hurt. Really, I wonder why they didn't just let the four _intelligent_ children out here."

"Because they thought it might have hurt your feelings."

"Oh, so you think that I'm the stupid one? Please. I'm not the one that thinks he's something special because he has sharp kunai, and you should reevaluate that since those kunai are the only sharp thing about you."

"Oh no, I know that I'm not the stupid one since it takes a certain type of stupid for someone to giggle like a little girl and write Kurosaki Sho's name all over one of the pages in their notebook." He grinned wickedly when the girl gasped, smirking out at the crowd like he wasn't currently trying his best to torture his sister.

"With little hearts." He added, and Yuka's face flushed a shade of red that was reminiscent of her mother's younger days before sending her brother a glare that would have slain a lesser person on the spot.

"I am _sooo _going to kill you." She hissed, her hands forming deadly claws that she was about to use on her brother regardless of the citizens that stood below them watching, but her mother's hard grip on her shoulder stopped her.

"Would you both please act like the children your father and I tried to raise? I know it's terribly difficult to pretend that you actually like each other for more than a few seconds, but you currently have hundreds of people watching you and thinking that you are two perfectly happy and sweet children. There is no need to show them the truth, so if you could I'd really appreciate it if the two of you would just stop acting like yourselves for a moment."

She smiled sweetly down at the two, but the children could see the threat that lay beneath the sugary sweetness of her tone.

"Yes ma'am." They both said, immediately adopting similar innocent and polite smiles as they turned to look forward, pinching each other under the cover of the sleeves of their kimonos.

Kori sighed and shifted her weight from foot to foot, zoning out since she had technically been through all of this a million times before. Her mother keeping it all together and managing to fix everything as if she was some kind of a magician, her father's on the spot speech that somehow managed to actually sound like it had been prepared for him by someone who knew what they were doing, and even Yuka and Leo's arguments. All of it had become so redundant that she just didn't pay attention anymore.

Anyways, she could always just ask Mino if anything important had happened.

* * *

Haha!

Also, if anyone has read in the past week or so, chapter 30 was accidently a double post of another chapter. This error has been fixed if you wish to go back.

Bye!


	72. Blood and Darkness

Woooh! I'm actually happy with this one!

This one gets a little dark people, so prepare yourselves!

* * *

Jiro had always heard the whispers that drifted around the clustered and clucking groups and into the eager ears of those who were eager for gossip. He knew that as ninjas grew in fame they were given names that would carry a certain specific and deadly identity that would easily strike fear into their enemies' hearts, names that were given to them to be held with pride.

There was his father the copy ninja, the three sannin, the yellow flash, and so many numerous others that people took some pride in, their strength and power carried along parallel to those names in a way that Jiro knew they had reason to be proud of.

His name, the one that drifted along the whispers and tickled his ears in a sickening way, was one he that he only felt disgust and a bitter kind of acceptance towards.

_Doctor of Death._

He had, since he was a child, always known that he would be a doctor, that his hands would be blessed with the serene power to heal and that he would save lives and fight death itself if he had tom, all to save even the smallest life.

He had never, however, expected to look down upon those healing hands of his and see the blood dripping off of them, staining them like an inky and depraved tattoo that he could never be free from.

He who had dreamed of being an angel while saving lives and bringing peace instead found himself as a reaper- his kunai as his scythe and his pure white doctor's coat his cowl. The battle field became his home and his hell, the lives he took so easily –like child's play- became weights that tore at his tainted soul, their lifeless and perceptive eyes following him where ever he dared to go, their dying cries gnawing at his sanity.

He knew that there was no number of lives that he could save, no amount of purgatory or repentance that could ever save him or wash away the thick gloss of oily blood that covered him from head to toe and made his reflection unbearable to even look at.

But perhaps what tore at him the most, destroying any feeling of pride he would have held for himself or what he did, was that as he tore through those people -rendering their flesh in two, their life's blood pouring almost poetically from the wounds he made so terrifyingly easily- there was a small feeling of almost… elation. A sense that _this _was what he was good at and what he would always be good at, no matter what.

He had been taught since childhood to know every secret of the body, to know what connected to what and know what was needed and what could easily be taken and yet still leave life. He knew the body's innermost workings and as such knew an infinite number of ways to kill. Torturously, painfully, slowly, he was well familiar with some ways that could even force a well-seasoned ANBU to look away in an attempt of self-preservation.

He disgusted himself.

He was often sent on missions that were so violent and animalistic in nature that only the top of the ANBU could be sent, and no one ever questioned why he went on them without the ranking. It was understood and relatively unquestioned that he was capable, especially after those who doubted saw him kill.

The sight of his heavily lidded eyes piercing the soul of his prey and leaving them immobile and helpless, his face a mask of cold indifference as he ran towards his target, the sight of his doctor's coat flying behind him as he came in for the kill, a pure and terrifying white that would soon carry an almost artistic blend of blood speckled lightly on the blank canvas as evidence of his victory.

They all understood after they saw him at work.

_He was death itself._

* * *

They made their way through the trees silently, the leaves not even daring to stir abnormally as they flew by, perhaps feeling the overwhelming sense of death that stuck to the two so closely and intimately, like the scent of a lover's perfume on their skin.

They were wraiths as they flew to their target, not even seeming to land on the branches as they ate up the distance separating them far faster than any mortal could have ever dared to believe possible. There was no conversation, no eye contact or signals that the two shared to communicate, and this lack of even acknowledging each other's presence was one of their most questioned feats.

But like understood like, and the knowledge the two men had of each other went deeper than even their dirty and twisted souls.

Without a word or warning they descended on their target, taking out the battalion of well-trained nin easily, cutting through their flesh as if it were warmed butter, each hit they made a merciful killing blow as they worked through the throng of desperately fighting men and women systematically, nearly taunting them with how absurdly easy it was to bring death to people who had only moments ago believed themselves to be above it, the last sights that tortured their eyes being brief and terrifying flashes of black and white.

When all was said and done and the small clearing was bathed liberally in blood, broken bodies crumpled to the ground like discarded dolls, barely three minutes had passed for the two men to rid the world of nearly thirty poor souls, tainted that they were.

Jiro took a deep breath, wondering at how neither the thought nor the sickly sweet and heady scent of blood and death bothered him anymore.

They brought the corpses to a pile in the middle of the clearing and into a nicely sized indention Jiro had made using one of his mother's preferred chakra blows, and as his partner prepared the bodies Jiro took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it, inhaling the bitter smoke and relishing the way the nicotine twisted his stomach.

Turning his head Jiro looked into the steady white eyes of his partner, the only other person whose soul was just as corrupted and distorted as his. They stared at each other in silence for a minute before Mino quietly spoke up, his voice dry.

"Smoking kills."

Jiro snorted, his lips twisting up bitterly at the macabre humor. He and Mino had been partners for years, passing over and then destroying the line of human morality time and time again, side by side as they became more and more like the demons they were believed to be. They had seen each other murder in the darkest of ways, torturing and twisting what had once been mortal men. They knew every shadow that shifted in the deepest recesses of their souls and they had heard every cry that tortured each other's gnarled hearts.

And because of this knowledge, because of this closeness that only they shared, a bond that went deeper than anything any normal person could comprehend, they never let it be known that they even knew each other when they stepped outside of the death painted battlefield.

That ugliness, that horrible and twisted demonic look that they could see hidden in each other's eyes, the look that they saw reflected back at them whenever they were forced to look into a mirror, was something they never wanted their loved ones to know of lest it taint the precious happiness that they could no longer hold for themselves.

They were murderers, they were unworthy of being happy.

With a few quick hand seals Mino lit the forms of what had once been brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers and friends alight. Jiro exhaled another lungful of smoke and breathed in the suffocating bitter and rancidly sweet smell of burning flesh and boiling puddles of blood.

Even this didn't bother him anymore.

When he had first realized how numb he had been becoming Jiro had panicked and one night –in a fit of desperation- had taken to drinking. His body had naturally taken to metabolizing the toxins in the alcohol but he had drank so much that he managed to outdrink his body's response, but then it had inevitably caught up with him. After that it got so that no matter how much he drank he was unable to feel that rush of feelings that came with being completely inebriated. He hadn't even been able to get a good hangover.

He had abandoned that and had picked up smoking, throwing up violently every time he had taken a drag of the bitter smoke. But that had slowly gotten better as well, the smoke only making his stomach slightly uneasy now so he knew that it was time to give it up too. After that had come sex, but even that had gotten old and he only felt dirtier when he woke up unable to even remember if he had asked the girl her name. And what was left?

Drugs? No, not only would his mother destroy him but it would only end up like the alcohol. Cutting? He'd been trained to take on hours upon hours of physical torture, so something as flimsy as that could never work. There was simply… nothing.

All he wanted to do was feel something other than the abysmal darkness that was swallowing up every last feeling or moral he dared to still possess after all of the years.

"That it does." He murmured, flicking the cigarette into the fire to burn alongside everything else he could no longer feel.

* * *

This one was for my dear little precious salemboy94 who is moving somewhere without internet for two whole years (I would die) and will be unable to read anymore (But if you tell me your adress I'll send them to you by mail! Hahaha! ;P). Thank you for your support and sweet words, and I wish you the best of luck in your endevors my sweet darling.

Also, this is showing a bit of the reason for the "More" that Mino needs, as mentioned in chapter 57. I'll be writing more later that will explain him more in depth.

See you around (Maybe in two years?)


	73. Nightly Ritual, NaruHina

This is just a little sumin' sumin' that I... really have no idea. I mean, after I wrote it I kind of looked around like "What the freak, my geek? What _is _this?" And Kathy didn't even know.

Oh well, a chapter that doesn't suck is still a chapter, so I will post! Haha!

This one is for the adorable little Hana Lee, who asked for another NaruHina. And don't worry if this one doesn't tickle your fancy, my pretty dear, there will be more to come that probably won't make me so... confused as to the origins.

* * *

Naruto lived a life that was constantly changing. With five energetic kids, a village he both protected and ran and numerous people under his leadership who risked their lives for him without question, there were very few daily guarantees. And he had changed along with his uncertain life, maturing and becoming someone he hoped that his people were proud to follow, someone worthy of being the Hokage, Hinata right by his side and changing along with of him.

He sometimes thought back to all those years ago when he had first began his relationship with the woman who would one day become his wife and a person more important to him than life itself. She had always been so achingly shy around him, blushing at even the slightest of things and stuttering adorably, fainting at some of the most inconvenient of times and causing him to nearly panic the first few times since it had always been his fault.

Gradually, as their relationship had progressed, Hinata had thankfully stopped fainting other than when she was absolutely overwhelmed and had become easier with him, her stutter eventually fading as her confidence raised, her blushes becoming precious things that he could only see when she was adorably embarrassed. She had grown and had started to hold herself with pride, more confident with herself and with her strength.

When the children had come Hinata had shown a side that many wouldn't have equated with the beautiful and soft spoken woman some saw as a pushover. She became firm where he was not, unbending and stern, having complete control over the "scary mom look" that he wouldn't have guessed his sweet Hinata capable of.

But there was one thing that remained unchanged even after all the years, one perfect constant that Naruto felt he could depend on even more than he could the sun rising with the morning and setting before the night.

Hinata's nightly routine just before she joined him in bed.

It was something ridiculously silly to depend on as he did and was a strange thing to look forward to, but there was something so utterly calming about the predictably of it in an utterly unpredictable life.

He liked it best on the nights when he was laying back against his pillows waiting for her, able to watch as she walked around with the grace he swore she managed to emit from her every pore. She would always go to the bathroom first, twisting her heavy hair up to the top of her head so that she could wash her face and brush her teeth, revealing the smooth curve of her neck to him.

They never really talked, though Hinata sometimes brought up something particularly humorous the children had done or Naruto told her about something that had happened at the office. Usually he would just watch her with a small smile as she went about her tasks, content to be where he was at that moment doing what he was doing, completely at peace.

After finishing in the bathroom she would walk back into the room and go over to the vanity, sitting down so that she could rub her moisturizer into her face and hands briskly, her attention never wavering towards him or wondering at his undivided attention since she was used to it after all the years and nights of the same thing.

She released her hair from its confines and allowed it to fall, picking up her brush to run it quickly through the long midnight strands.

Naruto pouted slightly, unhappy since brushing Hinata's hair was one of his favorite things to do, though he knew that Hinata found it a little embarrassing. He remembered back to the first time he had proposed the pampering, and her stuttering and blushing as she flat out refused him was still an adorable memory. Though she no longer stuttered or refused him when he asked, he'd sometimes peek around at her face and see a familiar and nostalgic blush covering her cheeks.

Finishing up at the vanity she came over to him and slipped into her side of the bed, shifting her pillow around and sliding under the comforters, barely having a moment to relax before Naruto was sliding his arms around her and pulling her to him, nuzzling his face into the familiar curve of her neck.

Hinata giggled lightly and ran a hand through his hair, and the sweetness of the sound and feeling was all it took to make his heart turn into a puddle of mushy putty at her hands. They lay together in a perfect silence for a few minutes before Naruto pulled back to stare intently down at her through the darkness, her own eyes, glowing ethereally, meeting his.

"Naruto?"

"I love you." He told her, watching as her entire face softened with a beautiful smile and her eyes glowed even brighter with a warmth that was reserved only for him.

Despite all of the changes over the years that had passed since they had first gotten together and despite how dearly he held the things that had blessedly stayed the same, he knew that the only true thing that would never change with them was the nearly overwhelming love he felt towards her.

"I know." She murmured, her hand moving to gently curve around his cheek, her other at his neck to pull him towards her for a warm and light kiss. "And I love you too."

* * *

Okay! It is time to say hello to my newest little darling, XxcandichanxX, who is now my official favorite. Why, you may ask, well I'll tell you why. She gave me cookies. Not just any cookies either: Oreos, God of the cookie kingdom. That's right, my peeps and peepers, you have your work cut out for you if you want to beat her.

But really, she's not my favorite. I don't pick favorites. Hahaha!

Yes I do. I'm lying.

And about the last chapter: I read that it confused some people and at first I was all like _"What?", _but then Kathy came in and round-house kicked me in my nose and kindly explained to me (While cruelly stomping on my crumpled form) that you are not in my head. You are not privy to the understanding of their story until I write it down for you. So I've been working on a big explanation chapter, but basically I can tell you this:

Jiro and Mino are seriously skilled like Itatchi and Kakashi were, but what stopped them from becoming like them (children being taught to be killers _way _to soon) was that their families wanted them to have an actual childhood. The skilled part is why Jiro was able to beat up a fourteen year old in chapter 32 (when he was only seven), and a similar situation happened to Mino, but a little worse (I will write it, do not fear). But when Jiro and Mino got old enough they were basically forced into a position where they had to accept additional training and they eventually became these sort of killing machines, and neither of them like themselves very much because of it.

Like I said, I'm writing it out right now, so I'll get the whole thing to you soon.

I will be seeing you soon, my darlings.


	74. Waiting, NejiTen

Hello my pretties! Sorry it took so long, but my USB disk-drive-thingy (the one I keep all my stories on (I can never really remember what it's called)) was stolen! Gasp! That is over twenty original stories, this one, the other fanfic I was working on, my poems (from my younger years), my essays and my recipes! Gone!

Luckily I kept my files backed up on my computer, but it kind of pisses me off that I lost it and the work I had done that day. Plus my USB thing was sparkly. I haven't seen a sparkly one again. *Sobs quietly in room*

Well, I figured that before I got to work on the AP english homework that is currently murdering me I'd post a tiny something for my dearest sweethearts.

* * *

It was early morning, silent as the world struggled to awaken, cool as the gentle sun tentatively touched the first wisps of life that stirred. A fog lay heavy withing the forest, the cool drops of dew weighing down the grass and leaves and as you breathed you could see the slightest puffs of air.

Neji sat on the rough wood of the porch, his bare feet on the cold earth, his skin prickling with the chill of the morning as his long hair hung loose around him. His eyes were distant as he watched for something he was hoping would come but was fearing wouldn't. He only distantly noted the chill of the morning, and he refused to let it or the goosebumps that rose on his flesh bother him.

Rin watched from the opened sliding door, leaning slightly against the wood as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth. Her father had yet to even register her presence, and it worried her. He had been getting worse as the days had dragged on, and a part of her was panicking, unsure of what to do. She was only twelve and it wasn't like she was some genius or anything like that. She was just Rin, and Rin was lost at how to help the situation and not make it any worse.

She just wished that she could take all the worry that was inside of him and slice it to shreds with her sword.

A breeze tickled her exposed skin and she wrapped the blanket she had draped over her shoulders closer around her, leaving only her head and her dainty feet exposed. Taking a breath and praying for luck Rin stepped forward, making sure to make the wood creak as she stepped onto it to catch her father's attention.

"Papa," She said quietly, staring at his strong and slightly slumped back, "It's cold. Come back inside and I'll make us some tea." The silence was short but heavy, and Rin could already predict her father's answer to her pathetic attempt.

"No, I'm okay. You should go back in though. I don't want you catching a cold." Rin sighed and shook her head, stepping further outside and wincing as the cold wood beneath her bare feet sent a sock through her, so cold that it almost hurt for a moment.

"Papa, you need to stop worrying. She'll be back soon." She didn't have to see her father's eyes to see the doubt that filled them.

"Rin, you can't know that." Rin sighed again and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She knew that the only person who would be able to talk her father out of the mopey mood he was in was her mother, but currently she was also the reason for the mood. She was on a mission currently and it had been over a month now that they hadn't had any communication from her or the little team she had been in, which was enough to worry her usually strong father.

She knew how worried he was and she knew that if she hadn't been there he would have immediately been off to search for her. But Rin also knew that there was no reason to worry.

"Of course I do." She said, the certainty in her voice leaving no room for arguments.

"How?" He asked her, and in that single word she was able to hear all the desperation and fear that filled him. Rin gracefully sank down to her knees, leaning against the strong back of the man who she had relied on all of her life, the man who was now relying on her. She wrapped her arms and the blanket around him, sealing them both in a cocoon of warmth and comfort.

"The same reason you know, Papa. I'm just not the one ignoring it." Because she was certain that nothing and no one could stop her mother from getting back to them, and there was a warmth in her, a gut feeling, that told her everything would be alright.

* * *

Rin's long black hair was held loosely back from her face with a stray ribbon she had found early that morning, the loose tail falling down to mid-back as she sat in the back lawn, her kantana in hands as she wiped the blade with a cloth to remove the oils from it, her face serene as she went about one of her favorite pastimes in the warm mid-afternoon sun.

Hearing the sound of grass crunching underfoot and feeling a familiar chakra signal Rin leisurely looked up, having to control herself from jumping up to run and throw herself at the approaching woman like she had when she was younger. She had to remind herself that she wasn't a child anymore and that she had to hold herself with a bit more dignity, like her father did.

Her mother strolled across the yard with her bag slung over her shoulder and a familiar cocky grin on her face. There were slight tears in her clothes and she was covered in a familiar and thick blend of dirt and sweat, but she looked just the same as she had when she had left.

"Hey Angel." Her mother called out to her, using one of the sweet nicknames she had had since she was a baby, and Rin smiled. Carefully sliding the blade back home into the sheath Rin sat it down before gracefully standing up and barreling into her mother like she had wanted to.

It was fine if she acted a little childish on a few things. She was only twelve and there was plenty of time to be a dignified adult later.

Her mother's arms wrapped around her, the embrace familiar and strong, and Rin was able to push those last little niggling doubts out of her mind.

"Where's your dad?" Tenten asked, smoothing back some of the stray strands of hair tat had slipped free from her lazy restraint.

"Inside, worrying about you." Tenten snorted and slung her arm around the small girl's shoulders as they walked, stopping for a moment so that she could help her gather her kantana and supplies.

"Well, come on then. We need to go and stop that man from being his angsty self. I swear, it's only been two months and he's already overreacting." Rin nodded and hid her smile, choosing not to say anything about how _she _got whenever Neji was out on a mission.

* * *

I'm trying to get the explanation for Jiro and Mino out, but my inspiration was mowed over with a tractor and then bitch slapped by homework, so it may be a while yet for those who are anxiously waiting (because I know that _sooo many _of you are *rolls eyes at sarcasm*)

Just a little something that is in part for xFallingxCastlexWallsx who once upon a time mentioned that she was mentioned in hearing a little more about Rin.

Oh, and I'm probably going to redo my "Kids" chapter since the characters have changed so much and I'll probably add in my other OC's. Might even introduce you to the ones I haven't even wrote about yet. Only my friend Missy knows all of them (I made a chart of the characters and their relationships).

Go hug a bashful turtle! It will make your day soooo much better!


	75. Tasting Tea

Hellooo!

This is the story about how dear little Mino met his little love, something that has been asked for (or questioned about) by my dear xFallingxCastlexWallsx and then was asked for by my new little darling Shard of Midnight.

This has also been cursed and hexed by my friend Missy who believes that Mino and Momo are soul mates and that I am the only thing keeping them apart.

Well, anywho, enjoy!

* * *

Mino didn't mind school. He didn't enjoy it like his sisters, but he didn't hate it. The things he learned were pretty interesting and he got to spend time with Momo and the few friends that gathered around the girl that didn't mind his "strangeness", as he had heard it called, so it really wasn't that bad.

But that was only when his regular teacher was there.

Said regular teacher had had to leave before the first class had started because his wife had gone into labor and a substitute had quickly slid in to replace him, and Mino found himself instantly on guard. The man's hair was too slick, he had a smile that was far too smooth, and his forehead protector was too shiny and unscratched, and as a person who grew up understanding such symbolism Mino had an instant distrust of the man that he easily hid behind his usual blank face.

The man was constantly cracking jokes in an obvious effort to be placed in the good graces of the students, and though most of the jokes were about a number of the students themselves and were on the edge of being cruel he got a few laughs, which was obviously what he was going for. They all gathered outside to play for a little while since ignoring the curriculum was the tradition of a teacher free day, and the sub had decided that they would play rounders.

Momo was bouncing on her toes in her excitement and was constantly tugging on his arm, chattering on about how much fun this was going to be for all of them to play together. He merely nodded his head and listened to her, wondering at which team they would be put on since he and Momo had never been placed on a separate team. At least not since she threw a fit and kicked a majority of the people who spoke out against her and then refused to play until things were set to rights.

No one had dared to evoke her wrath ever since.

The class that day was uneven and usually such a thing would be simply ignored but the substitute seemed to be particularly against such a thing, going on about how uneven teams went against the true spirit of the game. Mino decided to simply ignore the man's ramblings until he was finished and they could start the game.

The man was walking around trying to decide what to do when his eyes touched upon the still bouncing form of Momo who was now telling Mino that he'd have to take her to the cake shop so that they could try out the newest addition.

"Ah! I know!" He declared, pointing upwards as if to give the idea emphasis as he drew the class's attention to him. "We'll just sit someone out."

"Who? We all want to play." A small voice peeped up from the crowd, and the man smiled that greasy smile of his that made Mino's insides curl up in distrust and dislike.

"Well, how about the person who would hold back the team the most?" The children blinked at him in confusion and the man lowered his hand so that it was pointing to one of the children. A little girl with red markings on her face like large dimples and curling pigtails.

"We'll just sit out the fat one."

Mino, who had been staring at the swing in disinterest, felt his whole world grind to an aching halt at those damning words. Momo's ever present chatter died and he felt her exuberance fade from the very air around them, sinking within her as a wave of perceivable shame rose up in its stead. He turned his head slowly and watched as the very life seemed to seep out of her eyes as they drifted down to stare at her feet, her shaking hands clasped in front of her as she fought bravely against the tears that Mino could already see in her eyes.

His head turned slowly back to the substitute and with a mild shock he realized that the man had been yammering on the entire time, laughing as his words ate through Momo like an acid covered kunai.

"... And really, what is someone like that doing as a ninja anyway? It's pathetic. I mean, all of that fat is just serving to make her a bigger and slower target for the enemy!" He laughed sickeningly loudly and Mino heard it, a sound almost smothered by the disgusting sound of the man in front of them.

A tiny and broken sob, something that could have easily been passed off as a hiccup.

He didn't know when his byakugan had become activated but suddenly he could see every aching detail of the man in front of him who was still laughing that laugh that was scratching down his nerves like barbed razors, and he didn't know when he had started walking forward, the crowd parting around him as if sensing the danger of the boy who was usually seen as nothing more than a shadow.

And as he stepped forward, moving his hand like a viper in attack, hitting the man and severing one of his chakra paths with a coldly violent efficiency and accuracy he hadn't been fully aware of being capable of, all he knew was that no one made his best friend cry.

_No one._

He did not use the gentle hits he had been trained to use by his mother's clan because he did not want to draw back his blows at the last moment, not even wanting to give the man that. Instead he hit him viciously, allowing his chakra to tear through the man's body and destroy it cell by detested cell. The man did not fall to the ground, unable to do so since the sheer force of the hits managed to keep him upright, and he did not fight back. Mino never gave him the chance to.

…._Mino…_

_… __Mino …_

"Mino!" The shock of his name called out in a frightened and warbling tone caused the boy to stop, finally allowing the now unconscious man to fall to the ground as he slowly turned to find Momo's tear filled eyes on him, the entire class hiding behind her as if she were some kind of shield. "Mino..." She choked out again, and Mino realized a lot of things in that moment.

The man behind him was lying in a puddle of blood that he had forced him to shed.

Momo was still crying, though Mino had a gut wrenching feeling that it was no longer over the teacher.

Everyone in class was looking at him like he was some sort of monster.

Including Momo.

Mino stepped backwards, tripping over the husk of a man that he had left on the ground before he turned to quickly run away, not wanting to see them or those looks in their eyes as they touched upon him, and the last thing he heard before he lost himself to the darkness that was surrounding himself was one of his classmates exclaiming, "Oh my God, I don't think he's breathing."

* * *

The rain poured down furiously liked a drummer beating a furious tempo, mercilessly cutting into any who dared to step within its reach, immediately drenching those that were foolish enough to step out into the downpour and the scattered people that walked the streets were few and far between. And since none of them thought to look anywhere but forward at the blessed sanctuary they were heading toward they did not notice the huddled form that sat at the mouth of the alley, shivering from a cold that filled his entire soul and had nothing to do with the chilled rain that caused his clothes to stick to him like a second skin.

Mino sat in the downpour, his legs held close to his chest by his trembling arms and his face resting on his up-drawn knees, his breath shuddering as hot tears rolled from his eyes to war with the cold rain that covered his face. He didn't know where he was or how he had gotten to where he was, and he didn't know when the icy rain had started to pound into his skin like needles, but such useless information didn't matter to him at the moment. All that mattered was what he had done.

He shouldn't have done it, no matter what that man had said. He shouldn't have let such fearsome emotions grab ahold of him so easily, guiding his body and hands as he went about systematically and viciously destroying another person. He should have kept his calm and should have pretended that he was just as emotionless as everyone believed him to be. He should have handled it like his mother would have, or even his father, because he knew that neither of them would have lost control like that.

He didn't realize it when the rain stopped cutting into him and he didn't notice that someone had walked up to him until the gentle rustle of cloth forced him to jerk his head up and stare at her with wide and wild eyes.

She had to be the tiniest thing that he had ever seen, a round sweet face like a doll's with burgundy eyes that shined with innocence and compassion. Orange hair that battled the energy of his father's outfits from childhood was pulled back into a twist at the back of her head, a clump falling forward to frame her delicate face. She wore a simple kimono the color of the summer sky, and bamboo sandals adorned her tiny feet as her pink papered umbrella blocked the rain from the both of them, creating a tiny cocoon of isolation in which only they existed.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" She asked, her quiet voice calming him like the wind chime that hung on the porch at his house always did. He shook his head, staring up into her eyes and being captured by the gentle look in them.

"I-I did something bad." He found himself whispering, her eyes and concern calling forth the words.

"Oh?"

"I hurt someone." He managed, his gaze skittering away from hers in shame.

"Why?" She gently asked, crouching down in front of him so that they could see eye to eye, and Mino found himself inexplicably wanting to tell her everything.

"He was hurting someone. He was hurting my best friend." The girl cocked her head thoughtfully.

"Did he deserve to be hurt?"

Mino thought back to the incident, shuddering as the tears welled up to start anew. "Not in the way I hurt him." He choked out, his arms tightening around his legs and his fingers digging into his flesh until it hurt, surely leaving bruises on his pale skin.

The girl reached into her sleeve and pulled out an embroidered handkerchief, wiping his face with it soothingly, soaking the cloth with the mixture of rainwater and tears that dampened his face. "Hey now, it'll be alright. You feel bad about it, right?" Mino nodded his head and she smiled proudly. "Well, my mom always says that if you regret something that means you learned something. So now you know what not to do, right?"

Mino blinked at the simple wisdom that filled her statement before eagerly accepting it, hoping that with it he could begin to fix whatever he had broken.

The girl gently reached out and brushed his heavy rain soaked strands of blue hair out of his eyes, smiling into them with a purity Mino hadn't realized anyone could possess. "My name is Kaya, what's yours?"

"Mino… How old are you?" She acted so gentle and calm and mature that Mino was almost certain that she was a middle-aged midget. She giggled sweetly and Mino was filled with the compulsion to say something, anything, that could allow him to hear that sound again.

"I'm six." Mino blinked, unsure if it was even possible for her to be three years younger than him.

"My parents own a tea shop down the street. We can go there to get you dry if you want." A tea shop. She was only a little civilian girl. He should say no and go find his father and accept whatever punishment was bestowed on him for probably killing that man. He should just decline and leave.

But when she stood up and offered her tiny hand to him he found himself taking it and holding onto it tightly as she guided him into a quaint little shop that smelled of warmth and sweetly bitter tea. There were a few people waiting out the rain at some of the small tables, and the place was lowly lit with lanterns that danced flickers of light over the darkly wooded floors and walls.

"Mother, I've brought a friend!" Kaya called out, and Mino watched as a woman with hair that was browner in color than her daughter's come out, looking him over with a kind gaze that was similar to her daughter's.

"Hello, Kaya's friend." Her lips twitched up and he could hear the chuckle she tried to hide, "Ah… You're soaked, aren't you? Come into the back and we'll get you something to change into."

As he changed Mino wondered at how peaceful and quiet the little shop was, and when he stepped out from behind the curtain to enter the main shop again he saw Kaya focusing intently as she made some tea, her forehead furrowed in her concentration.

Sitting down to watch better Mino noticed that she had tiny, almost unnoticeable freckles on her nose. Four on one side and three on the other. Fascinated by this fact Mino leaned forward to study her better and nearly slid out of his seat.

Saving himself from the embarrassment Mino contented himself to just stare at his hands on the table until a steaming cup was placed in front of him. Glancing up into the hopeful eyes of Kaya he picked up the cup and blew the steam away, taking a tentative sip.

As he sipped he knew that it was in no way the best tea that he had ever had from his few experiences with the beverage, but looking up into her shining and hopeful eyes Mino forgot all of that and decided that he had never tasted anything in his life that was better.

"It's good." He managed, and her smile made the bitter cotton taste in his mouth worth it.

Kaya's mother joined them later, carefully critiquing the girl when she tasted it, and they sat there making small talk and passing the time until he inevitably had to leave.

There was a nearly silent rustle of cloth and a masked figure filled the doorway, causing the two girls to jump in fear and surprise as Mino sat his cup down.

"Uzumaki Mino, your father wishes to speak to you." Two sets of wide eyes stared at him in hock for a moment until he pushed his chair back, the feet scraping against the wood noisily.

"Uzumaki… as in the _Hokage_?" Kaya's mother asked breathlessly, watching as the quiet little blue haired boy nodded his head and calmly walked over to the ANBU, turning back to them before he left.

"Thank you for your hospitality." He said quietly, bowing formally and politely before turning away again. Just before Mino managed to leave and before her mother could stop her Kaya ran forward and grabbed onto the sleeve of the borrowed kimono Mino wore, smiling up into his face.

"Make sure you come back, okay?" And Mino managed a nod before dislodging her hand and racing away, hoping that he'd be able to keep that little promise.

* * *

Mino had never been afraid of his father. The man might have been powerful and deadly but he was also the man that told him and his siblings bedtime stories and was easily subdued by his mother. He couldn't be afraid of him.

He could, however, be afraid of the Hokage.

Standing in the office as the rain poured down outside, darkening the room and filling it with the near thunderous beat, Mino looked to his Hokage and for the first time felt fear towards the blonde haired man before him.

"I have already heard what happened from all of your classmates." He said quietly, his blue eyes glowing in the dim room and making Mino's stomach turn in unease. He desperately wanted to ask for his father back at that moment so that he get rid of any memory of the stern faced and serious man before him with eyes that seemed to spear him in place, but he stayed silent. He knew that he deserved a punishment, one that fit the crime he had done, and there was no way that his kind and laughing father could do that.

Only the Hokage could.

"From what they said it seems that the substitute said a few things about Momo's weight and you attacked him." Naruto watched his son for a silent moment, studying him and the way his normal nearly emotionless eyes held so many rioting emotions. "Mino, tell me why you did this."

Mino studied the weave of the carpet for a moment before flicking his eyes back up to his father, hoping that the emotions that filled the familiar blue eyes that stared at him, veiled by the darkness, were anything but disappointment.

"He laughed." He said quietly, "He made her cry and then he _laughed_." There was a moment of silence tempered by the beat of the rain hitting the glass of the windows and the roof, and Mino fisted his hands at his side, the first visible sign of his nervousness.

"How much trouble am I in?" He asked quietly, hating the taste of the words in his mouth. He wondered if this was how his siblings felt when they had to ask those dreaded words, though he supposed his case was worse than sneaking into the library or hitting each other in the heat of an argument.

Naruto leaned back in his chair and sighed, roughly running his hand over his face. "A lot. The guy didn't die though, and you can think Sakura's genius for that." He chuckled roughly and shook his head at the boy, "But of course the one thing you had to get from me was my temper." Mino let his lips weakly twitch into something that resembled a slight smile, glad to see his father now.

"You're going to get into some trouble at school since this happened on school grounds, and you're going to have to be grounded for a week or something. I don't really know the going rate of that sort of thing for beating a man within an inch of his life." Mino winced slightly at the blunt statement and Naruto sighed again, running his hand through his hair as he was once again able to see why Tsunade had drank so much.

"Your grandfather and uncle are going to be training you more, and your mother and Aunt have promised to help. You're also going to go with me to the frog summons and learn a few things about meditation so we can get a choke hold on your anger, but other than that I can't really think of much. Your mother might make you apologize, but it'll only be for nearly killing him, and since most of us would have done the same thing you're not going to hear much from us about the beating part."

Mino nodded and then looked up again. "Dad I'm… sorry." Naruto smiled a bit at the boy and stood up, stretching and trying to figure out a way to make the whole thing a lesser weight on the small boy's thin shoulders.

"Yeah, I know. But I also know that you're going to be really sorry after you go through the psych evaluation that the council has ordered." Mino's face turned into a perfect and frozen mask at the comment and Naruto was about to say something else but they were interrupted by the door swinging open and hitting the wall with a loud bang, a brown headed blur of vividly colored clothes dashing in and throwing herself at the slim boy, tackling him to the ground.

"I'm so sorry!" Momo sobbed, burying her tear-stained face into Mino's shirt as the boy patted her back from his awkward position beneath her, "It's all my fault that you're getting in trouble!"

"Momo," Mino said quietly, glad that the look in her eyes from earlier was gone since he never _ever_ wanted her to be afraid of him.

"If I... If I wasn't so _stupid _you wouldn't be going through this and maybe I could have said something or maybe-"

"Momo, why are you apologizing?" The girl leaned back and blinked down at him for a moment, her tears quickly drying up in her confusion.

"Because it's my fault."

"No it wasn't."

They stayed like that for another moment before Momo got off of him and wiped her face, staring down at him determinedly. She still believed that this was all completely her fault but she was willing to push the guilt away for a moment since she knew that Mino wouldn't accept it.

"Stuff like that isn't going to happen again." She determined, telling herself to get stronger, to get better so that none of this would have to happen again and so she'd be able to protect Mino in whatever little ways she could.

Mino nodded and stood up, not knowing the protective and possessive thoughts that were flowing through his best-friend's head. All he could do was wonder at when he'd be able to go back to the quaint little tea shop and the sweet faced little girl that made his heart race with a single smile.

* * *

And thus, Kaya has been introduced (or the Freckle Faced Whore, as Missy calls her (this is not a lie. Missy saw a doodle of her before I decided on a name and dubbed her the Freckle Faced Whore))

Mino is watched constantly after this and the other students (who are already uneasy about him) don't hang around him too much.

And now to my newest little dear, a guest who called himself (or herself, I'm a bad judge on these things) Anony-mouse (such an adorable little name). He said that he was making an OC for Lee and liked the name Misaki, but he was worried about copying me and asked "Would you think I'm plagiarizing or would you be honored?"

Well, truthfully, I think you should just go for it. I do not own the name (I own nothing. I am poor) and I just found it when I googled "Japanese girl names", saw that and thought, "Ooh, that's pretty." So I went with it. But I am kind of happy that you thought to ask me, and I have the same fears whenever I like the names of other OCs.

So, my sweet little plantain, I say go for it! (But you can always mention me as your most wonderful inspiration and beautiful goddess of wonder and happiness) And, if you were wondering, Misaki means beautiful blossom.

Oh! I almost forgot! I mentioned the game rounders that I mentioned above, this is just what my school calls a game we played in gym class constantly. It's a deviation of kickball where you just continue to run around the bases after you kick the ball until three people get out or you get out, and you can pile as many people as you want to on the bases. I don't know if anyone had ever played it before or knew of it (When I googled it to see it only came up with a gambling movie and an old English game that is like base ball.)

I hated this game with every fiber of my being (I am not a physical person) and am sooo happy to not have to play it anymore.

Hasta la vista, baby.


	76. Teen Rebellion

Hello hello my darlings! I have once again faithfully returned, and brought with me another chapter!

* * *

There were very few things that you were able to get away with when growing up with extremely skilled ninjas as parents, and the three girls currently gathering in the empty Hatake apartment understood this better than any.

Rin's father had the Hyuuga eyes that were able to stare through walls to see even the slightest of misdeeds and while her mother had no blood line limit she still had the uncanny ability to be right around the corner she was trying to slip by guiltily, able to grin at her and completely disarm her before systematically destroying any hope of escape the girl had.

Kori's father wasn't around as much as the others but his ANBU were and they were more than happy to report the teen's misdeeds to the Hokage or, if they were in a particularly spiteful mood, they'd go to her mother, though the woman did not need their help in figuring out her children's secrets. She didn't even have to use her all seeing eyes, barely having to spare the children a glance before seeming to know every thought that had ever passed through their heads and then with a single stern look from the normally gentle woman they all found themselves easily spilling their guts and awaiting their punishment.

And Karin, along with her brother and father, was terrified of her mother and her temper so she tried her hardest to not evoke the woman's wrath, and then there was her father who with his sharigan -though he had never used it on her or her brother- was just as threatening.

Really, the poor girls had no way to win.

But there were a few times that with careful planning and whispered secrets they managed to rebel, and after weeks of veiled looks they finally had the perfect opportunity on the day that Karin's mother was working with Jiro following her around and her father was out on a mission.

Rin was sitting down on the floor and leaning against Karin's bed when Kori came in through the window, holding the white plastic bag in her hands aloft with pride.

"I'm back and have succeeded in my most important mission!" She declared, setting the bag down next to her cousin and setting down on the bed. Rin "hmm"ed at her, prying the bag open to see the fruits of the blonde girl's labor.

"Hey, so I found some cups and- Kori! Did you come through my window again? You know it freaks the neighbors out when they see us doing that, let alone strangers." Kori rolled her eyes at her best friend, waving her worries away with negligent hand.

"Yeah, yeah. But it's faster and adds to the whole secretive element of the whole thing and I'm sure that no one saw me. Ninja, remember?" Rin, while the two girls were talking, pulled the bottles out from their home in the bag. Reading the labels as she did so Rin had to wonder where the blonde girl had managed to acquire them, especially since she was the well-known and underage first born of the Hokage.

There were bottles of whiskey, beer, vodka that apparently tasted like green apple, wine –both red and white- and tequila all seated together, clinking against each other as they were moved.

"Well," Karin said, sitting down beside Kori, "Let's do this thing."

The other two girls nodded, eagerly waiting for Kori to take the bottle caps off of the first bottles that held the green apple flavored drink, smiling and shifting around nervously as they prepared themselves to be rebels, to be teenagers. Clinking the glass bottles against each other in a little toast they brought them to their mouths with a grin and took the first drink of the night.

It took less than a handful of seconds for the taste to compute, and when it did their faces twisted into identical expressions of distaste.

"Ew." Karin muttered, trying to get the bitter taste out of her mouth by quickly swallowing a couple mouthfuls of the water she had sat on her bedside table.

"Yeah." Kori agreed, quickly setting the bottle down on the floor and hoping to never see it again, "I don't know what kind of apples they grow over there in vodka land, but it tastes like they were poisoned after being rubbed over a hobo's foot."

"Thank you so much for that lovely and twistedly weird image." Rin sighed setting her own bottle down. "It just added to that whole lovely experience."

The girls shoved their bottles away, each grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge to try and combat the bitter and cottony taste that still resided in their mouths. After a few more minutes and a cookie for comfort they switched their attention over to the wine.

"This shouldn't be all that bad," Rin offered as she poured a splash of the white into the little plastic cups they had, "I mean, people drink it all the time at parties and the red is supposed to be good for your health." They all nodded and took a sip, observing the expressions of the others instead of paying attention to what they were drinking, so when the dry taste hit their taste-buds they were very unpleasantly surprised.

Once more their faces took on expressions of distaste that would have been hilarious had they not been preoccupied by the stale taste in their mouths.

"Maybe the red will be better," Rin hopefully suggested, the other girls nodding and putting out their cups once again to watch as a splash of the red tinted liquid was poured into their cups. The girls brought the cups up and hesitatingly sniffed, Kori and Karin watching as Rin bravely sipped the bitter smelling drink that they were now hesitant to try.

They watched as -when the taste registered- Rin's face scrunched up comically as she made a sound of disgust in her throat, practically throwing the cup away from herself. "It tastes like cough syrup!" She choked out, frowning, "I hate cough syrup!" The other girls sat their own drinks aside, unsympathetically happy that it at least hadn't been them.

Kori hesitantly opened the whiskey and sniffed the bottle, recoiling at smell that made her nose burn and her eyes water. Shaking her head she pushed the bottle aside, the trio becoming dejected in the face of how big a failure their little rebellion was. Shaking off the mood and determined to make sure the night wasn't a complete disaster Karin reached out and picked up one of the bottles of beer, figuring that since she knew so many people who liked it it couldn't be _that_ bad. Quickly taking a deep swig Karin then sat down the bottle with a solid _thunk_ on the floor, blinking her teary eyes and gagging slightly.

"Karin…?" Rin prodded, seeing how miserable the girl now looked after the last drink. Without saying a word or even acknowledging that the other girl had shown any concern Karin jumped up, holding on hand to her stomach and the other to her mouth as she ran as quickly as she could to the bathroom.

Kori brought the bottle up to her nose and sniffed, wrinkling her nose at the stale smell and then feeling her stomach turn when the sounds of retching filled the apartment. A few minutes later Karin shuffled back into the room her hand still pressed to her stomach and her face pale and drawn. She seemed to slump into herself, crawling up onto the bed to curl into a miserable ball on the sheets.

"That was terrible." She muttered, soothed as Rin began to smooth back her hair from her sweat spotted forehead. "I really don't see what the whole alcohol thing is about after all of this." Kori nodded and shoved the bottles away with her foot, standing up and stretching the kinks out of her back as she contemplated.

"Well, I think we can all agree that this sucked." She said, putting her hands on her hips as she looked down at the two younger girls, "So, are we going to continue with the plan? We still have the movies and I think you brought cigarettes, right Rin?" The dark haired girl nodded, but hesitated over the decision of whether to continue or not, put off by the complete failure it had been so far.

"I don't know about you two," Karin grumbled from the pillow she had shoved her face into, "But I don't really want to watch porn or whatever else you brought after becoming good friends with the toilet and my breakfast, and I definitely don't want to smoke. It smells gross and will probably taste just as bad." Kori nodded at the wisdom of the words and puzzled over what to do next.

"Hey, Karin, you guys have that one cartoon movie, right? The one with the fighting panda?"

"Yeah, it's in the living room on one of the shelves."

"Okay then, I'll go get it." She decided, striding over to the door. Karin nodded but popped her head up to call after the blonde.

"Hey, bring me some orange juice!" She paused, thinking it over, "And some cookies!"

"Fine!"

"You like milk, right?" She asked Rin, who nodded, "And Rin wants some milk!"

"Fine!"

A few minutes later Kori came in with a plate of cookies and the drinks, the movie held in her mouth, and as they settled in with their chocolate chip cookies to watch a cartoon movie about animals who knew karate, Karin laughed at the image they made.

"God, we're terrible teenagers, aren't we? We try to rebel and we end up watching a children's movie while eating cookies and drinking juice and milk."

"Yeah, but we make up for it by being amazing people with sparkling personalities, so just shut up and eat a cookie." She demanded, holding said treat up to the other girl's mouth until she took a bite from it.

"And hey, don't go bashing on the movie. I like it." Karin snickered and shook her head at her best friend, but none the less stayed silent as they continued to watch the cartoon together, silently admitting that it was a pretty great movie.

* * *

Once again, this was based off of events in my friend's and my lives.

Beer- My family is a big beer drinker, so one day when I was younger I decided to just smell it to see if it had some amazing and magical awesome property, but all it managed to do was make me decide to never try it because it smells really icky. And then about a year ago my friend Tiff decided that she would be a rebel and try a beer at her cousin's house without her parent's knowledge, and after a sip she threw up all over his girlfriend's rug.

We do not like beer.

Wine- I tried this very recently at my family's Christmas party (after asking my parents for permission and making my family think that I'm a budding alcoholic) and these were my exact thoughts. It tasted like cough syrup and it was icky and I didn't like it. End of my experiments with alcohol.

Whiskey- I had to pour some whiskey over something to kill the germs one day after my dad told me to so after doing it I paused and said to myself "I'm a teen, so I'll act like a teen and be a rebel!" So I decided to try it because, hey, alcohol! But here's the thing, after this one time I drank rotten milk (two times in a row) at school I always smell new drinks to make sure that they're not rotten. So I sniffed the whiskey, which made my nose and throat burn from just the smell, and put the drink away.

apple vodka- this was actually apple flavored Smirnoff, and my dad let me and my younger brother try it one day. It was bitter and gross and I really don't know what kind of freaky apples they put in that thing, because neither of us liked it.

And that is all my experimenting with alcohol! Though I did try a sip of an apple martini once, and I liked it because it tasted like green jolly ranchers.

Like I said, my friends and I are pretty much failures with the teen rebelling thing, though I don't have to or want to. My parents have given me permission (though they're not telling me to do it) to try alcohol, drug and sex (because they say that I'll probably experience it in college) as long as I'm careful and tell them about it. So what do I do?

I stay at home in my fuzzy purple pajamas with my laptop with my toaster strudels and write these stories for you precious darlings.

So, I'm a failure as a teenager, but I don't really care. I'm awesome no matter what.

Bye bye, my sweet hearts (and I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's day)!


	77. First Day of School, NejiTen

Hello hello hello! How are you, my preciouses? Still as cute as ever? Good.

Onward with the chapter!

* * *

Tenten watched as the young children milled around outside the academy, all of them excited for the first day of school to start. There were spontaneous games of tag starting at random intervals and gleeful laughter joined with too loud conversations along with screams and cries and scolding parents, all of this going on with a certain chaotic harmony that could only come with children.

Tenten distantly remembered a time when all of it would have been far too much for her to handle without losing her patience and her temper because of just how annoying and nerve racking all the noise was, but motherhood had certainly helped with that.

Though the spoiled little screaming twerps over there were never going to be tolerated with good humor.

Restraining herself from shooting a glare at the kids and their too easily manipulated parents she knelt down to be eye level with her own little angel who was taking everything around her in with wide eyes.

"Alright now, you have everything?"

"Yes."

"Paper? Crayons? Pencil? Glue?"

"Yes."

"Your lunch?"

Rin bit her lip and lifted her school bag up, rustling through it in search of the pretty pink bento box with the flowers and bunnies on it that she had picked out special for school, but no matter how many times she looked through the practically empty bag she just couldn't find it.

"But-" She protested, looking up to her mother for help to find the woman holding the very thing she was looking for in her hands, a smirking smile on her face. Rin laughed -she just loved it when her mother did those neat ninja tricks- and grabbed her lunch, putting it back into her bag.

"Will I learn to do stuff like that, Mama?" Rin asked with excited eyes and a huge smile, practically bouncing on the tips of her toes. Tenten smiled at her, able to see _exactly _what her little baby would learn, and easily hid how scary all of this was for her.

"Yep. And when you do we can start playing tricks on you dad." She loved watching how big and happy her daughter's eyes got, loved watching that little glint of mischief that she knew came from her light up eyes that by all rights probably should have been emotionless because of their color.

"Okay!"

Somewhere a bell rang and the masses of tiny bodies started to separate and gather into lines and groups, some of the parents and kids waving goodbye and others crying for fear of the separation. Tenten took a breath and prepared herself.

"Alright, well your teacher is going to be Natsumi-Sensei, so listen to her and do as she says, okay?"

"Okay."

Tenten nodded and had to stop herself from sweeping her baby up into her arms and declaring the whole venture a failure, taking the girl back home with her so that she'd be able to keep her safe from the dangers of the unknown that letting her go held.

But she was going to do this, damn it. She was going to do this and stay strong because it was what was best for her daughter.

"Well, she's over there with the rest of your new class. You see the woman with the short blonde hair?" Rin nodded and Tenten smoothed a hand over the soft black hair that had been left loose for the important occasion at her daughter's request. Preparing herself to be strong in the face of her daughter's tears and requests for them to not be separated she took a breath and brought the little speech she had prepared about the fun of school and being a big girl to the tip of her tongue.

"Rin-"

"Bye Mama!" Rin said happily as she slipped from her mother's hold and practically skipped over to the little huddle of children across the yard, leaving her mother to stare after her in shock, wondering what had happened.

Wasn't there supposed to be tears and little heart breaking pleas that would stab at her conscious? What had happened to that? She was her _mother_, she wasn't supposed to just turn away like they were just casual friends. She was supposed to miss her and be afraid of being without her and- was she over there _laughing?_

That little brat.

After standing there for a few more moments Tenten turned away with a huff, ignoring the heart-wrenching voice that was screaming from within her to turn back just to make absolutely sure that there wasn't any danger.

If her daughter could just turn away like that then so could she.

Having really no idea of what to do with herself without a little girl pulling on her pants and begging her to play or go walk around the market Tenten ended up wandering around without a destination in mind, hands shoved deep into her pockets as she sulked.

"Tenten! Hey!" She turned around to find a woman with shockingly pink hair waving at her from a little outside table of a cafe, a white haired man slumped into his seat beside her. Seeing something to take her attention away from her gloomy mood Tenten walked over, smiling gratefully at her friend.

"Hey Sakura."

"Did you just drop Rin off for her first day at school?" Tenten nodded and sat in the free seat, glancing down at the complementary glass of water that appeared in front of her like magic.

"Yeah. How about you and Karin?"

"Yeah, we got there a little earlier so we could talk to the teacher though. I think the girls got the same one." Tenten nodded and tapped the side of her glass with her fingers, a sudden thought occurring to her. Maybe the whole over-emotional scene was just exaggerated and it didn't really happen all that often.

"So... Did she cry when it came time to say goodbye?" Tenten hoped that the question sounded more casual to them than it did to her. Thankfully, if they noticed her odd behavior regarding the question they didn't show it. Sakura just laughed and shook her head no.

"No, there weren't any tears," A huge wave of relief flooded through her but Sakura's next words sent her right back to her earlier state of mind, "Though it was pretty close. She wouldn't let go of Kakashi's leg and kept on asking the teacher if we could come to school with her. She even promised that we'd be good." Sakura chuckled and there was a light of warmth and amusement in Kakashi's visible eye as it crinkled, and Tenten had to stop herself from glaring at the pair.

Well, wasn't that great? Their daughter loved them.

"What about Rin? Did she do anything?" Tenten shook her head and grumbled lightly under her breath, muttering something about having to go as she pushed back from the table. Sakura mentioned having to leave for her shift at the hospital and Tenten waved at her mention of having a baby free girl's day, pouting once again as she made her way back home to wallow in her misery.

Alone.

But apparently she couldn't even have a pity party by herself because as she lay on the couch sighing up at the ceiling she felt the familiar chakra of her husband approaching the house, apparently home from the mission he'd been on during the past couple of days.

Neji came into the room and took in the morose form of his wife, shaking his head at her slightly before coming forward to stand beside the couch.

"Are you upset that I didn't manage to get back in time to take Rin to school with you this morning?" He asked her and she shook her head, throwing her arms up to cover her eyes and pretend that he wasn't there, though she knew from experience that it would be impossible to ignore him.

The bastard.

"Well then, what are you upset about?"

Tenten briefly thought about just blowing him off and telling him that it was nothing but he'd just give her that stupid Hyuuga look of his -and she'd know he was giving it to her even if she couldn't see it; she'd be able to feel it- and she'd just continue to pout until eventually she'd take it out on him during one of their training sessions together and end up saying it anyway. She didn't really feel like going through that whole cycle at the moment, so she simply sighed and decided to skip to the end.

After telling him the whole little story there were a few moments of silence before Neji spoke up, his voice caught somewhere between the fine edges of amused and weary. "So... you're upset that you were unable to make our daughter cry?"

"No," She sighed, sitting up, "I'm upset because she obviously doesn't love me. She was all too happy to just skip away and leave me, not even bothering to question if she'd be alright without me there." Tenten huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, pouting at the wall as she felt that stupid Hyuuga stare being leveled at her.

"Tenten, Rin is six. She is unable to grasp the concept of even being unable to not love us, and I doubt that she would choose to do so even if she could. And if you remember we had a talk to her the other night about how school wasn't anything scary and that it was a place where she'd be able to do a lot of fun things. Obviously she chose to trust us in this, and this only means that we managed to raise a calm and smart girl who doesn't feel the need to whine when we tell her not to."

Damn that stupid Hyuuga for sounding so... reasonable. She wasn't done pitying herself yet and he had no right to just march in there and stop it like he did.

"She could have at least cried a little. Just a tear." She muttered and Neji merely sighed at her childishness.

"Yes, well, it's nearly time to go pick Rin up. Do you want to go too or do you just want to stay here?" Tenten grumbled and huffed but rolled off of the couch to stomp after her infuriating husband.

Watching the stream of happy children pour out of the building Tenten couldn't help the tiny little part of her that hoped her daughter had been miserable without her. There had once been a day that Rin could barely stand for them to be separated by a room, but now all of the sudden it seemed like her baby was growing up and it was happening way too fast and she just didn't like it.

Rin came out of the school with her classmates and broke into a run when she saw her parents, throwing her small arms around them for a big hug, smiling up at them. "Mama! Papa! Guess what happened today?" She prompted excitedly, grabbing on to their hands and swinging them as they began their leisurely path back home.

"What?" Neji asked, smiling slightly at the small girl.

"Well, first I met Aiko, and she's _really _pretty. She has purple hair! And when I told her that she said that I have pretty eyes and then asked me if we wanted to be best friends, so we are! And when what Natsumi-Sensei asked us to tell the class who we are I told everybody that I'm learning to fight with swords and everyone was really impressed. Some boy even told me that it was 'cool', but then he made fun of Aiko's hair bow so I didn't talk to him anymore. We colored too, and we had to draw pictures of our family so I drew one of all of us and Aiko told me that I was really good at drawing peoples, but she's good at drawing birds. She has four birds and one of them can even talk even though it's not a summon, can you believe it?!"

"Really?" Tenten asked, the appropriate amount of shock and wonder in her voice as she smiled down at the girl. It was impossible not to be swept away by her excitement and it was even more impossible to be calmed by the feeling of the girl's soft hand in hers.

"Yeah! And during play time me and Aiko played with the doll house, but it wasn't as pretty as mine, and Aiko had the same lunch box as me, but hers was blue with butterflies!" The girl giggled, gripping her parent's hands tighter for them to swing her up over a rock that was in the way, and beamed up at them.

"It was fun," She said simply, giving their joined hands another hearty swing, "But it probably would have been a lot more fun if you could have come too."

"Really?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah. You would have gotten all of the color answers easy, Mama, and you're the best drawer in the world, Papa."

"Thank you." Neji said, obviously amused with the high position the girl had just given him. Tenten smiled at the pair and felt most of her earlier feelings fade away.

Her baby was growing up way too fast and too soon and there was no way for her to stop that, but even still she was needed and wanted. No matter how old the girl got she'd always be her mother and Rin would always be her baby, and nothing would ever change the fact that she was there for her no matter what.

But still, maybe they could slow things down a bit, especially when she started talking about a slumber party with this Aiko girl. There was no way they were ready for a whole night's separation like that yet.

* * *

Well, I got the idea for this one when my mother was telling us about how on each of our first days of school we didn't whine or cry and just walked away while she was practically standing there in tears (She did say that she was used to it by the time my second brother entered school)

And on the last chapter since someone said something: I understand that not liking alcohol or other such things does not make a bad teenager. This (the partying, smoking and general unruliness) is a stereotype that is shown on TV and movies that most other people around my age (I'm 17) feel the need to conform to because it makes them feel more mature. I think it all looks like a waste of time and effort and don't feel the need to lose control of myself or my morals, so my friends and I constantly joke that we "aren't very good teenagers" because we don't participate in and generally dislike these things, so that is what I meant.

Well, see you late my dearlings. Love you lots!


	78. A Second First Date, ShikaTema

My my my, look at what I found drifting around my brain. This was inspired for the ever delightful jayjoan who reviewed all of my ShikaTema centered chapters. She said:

**"...shikamaru and temari's relationship after the 10 years makes me nervous... I'd love to see just them in one moment, and learn more about how they've managed to fall in love all over again..."**

So this is kind of a little piece of that (not really, but still), all for you!

* * *

Temari wished that life was easy and that she didn't have to give so much for a chance at the happiness that rightfully should have been hers without so much trial. She had been kept captive and tortured for years and had lived through the most excruciating physical and mental pain that one could possibly live through, sanity remarkably intact, and she had thousands of scars littering her heart and body to prove it.

And yet it seemed that whatever sadistic God that was playing puppet master with her life was not yet done with attempting to destroy her.

The nightmares were continually getting worse every time she attempted to get some sleep, the blinding light shining down on her exposed flesh, shining on her dripping scars with a stark clarity that made her want to become sick, shadowy demon claws formed as scalpels tearing her apart to leave her bleeding as their poison seeped through her like acid. The sheer pain that she swore she could still feel radiating from "healed" wounds echoing through her and forcing her awake, a shrill scream of horror and pain balancing precariously on her lips though the sound itself was wrapped too soundly in fear to be released.

She remembered the first time Shikamaru had tried to wake her up and she had ended up attacking him. The red marks from her nails on his throat hadn't faded for days and the black eye he had recieved from her fist had been even more stubborn. It had taken a few more tries and numerous more wounds before they had figured out that he couldn't try to wake her or restrain her, and the way her thrashing and nearly indiscernible whimpers had to continue on was tormenting them both.

Because of the continuous sleepless nights and stress there were dark smudges of half-moons painted beneath her eyes and they had had to make sure that her kunai were taken from their hiding spots around the bed in case she instinctively reached for them during one of the nightmares. Due to all of this her relationship with Shikamaru was straining against the delicate stitches that kept it from crumbling apart around them and she had no idea what to do to help keep it together.

And then there were her children. They were grown and were at the ages where they didn't need her to be there at every turn and it tore at her because she needed them so desperately. Asuma was better about it, helping her or talking to her when she got bored, telling her as many stories as she wanted so she could get some hint as to how her babies -and they had only been babies when she had left- had grown into the people they were. But Kyoko swung between the mindsets of happy that her birth mother was back and that they could patch up the ashen remains of their relationship and then sullen because she didn't know the woman who was trying to desperately fit back into her life.

Because Temari hadn't managed to get her physical or mental health back to the level that was needed to get back to work to take missions she was usually stuck in the house alone throughout the day, and though her old friends dropped by when it was possible to keep her company and bond it was just so unbearably lonely to sit in a house where the reminders of memories she had missed drifted through the halls like ghosts.

She looked through the photo albums Maria had lent her, studying each photograph as if it were scripture and she was a devout, needing to search for even the tiniest piece of the puzzle of what she had missed in their time apart.

She saw that Shikamaru had briefly taken up smoking again only to stop after about a year or two, probably from the urging of Maria or someone involved with the children. She saw that when Kyoko had been eight she tried to cut her hair, ending up with disastrous results, and that when he had been five Asuma had chipped his front tooth. She saw that there was once a time that Kyoko and Asuma didn't even seem to want to be in the same room as the other, and she saw that the same could never be said for Asuma and Ringo.

She saw that they had managed to hold onto a bit of happiness from the hand they had been dealt and it relieved her that they had managed to do this, even if it was without her.

But it also killed her excruciatingly slowly because it was all without her.

On one of the days where she was alone and flipping through the albums Shikamaru appeared as if by magic, looking down at her slightly slumped form before sighing and reaching down to pull her to her feet.

"Shika, what-"

"Go get dressed." He ordered, Temari instinctively and instantly bristling at the demand.

"Excuse me? What do you mean _'__Go get dressed?'_"

"Just do it and stop being so troublesome."

Practically growling but deciding to go along with whatever he was doing just to see why he was being so uncharacteristically insistent Temari stomped upstairs, tossing on a comfortable shirt and pair of pants before stomping right back down stairs to slip on her shoes, glowering at Shikamaru the entire time.

He wordlessly opened the door and allowed for his wife to sweep past him, waiting for her to pause when she realized that she didn't know where she was supposed to go before he stepped in beside her, a slight smirk on his face that only managed to piss her off even more as he led her to where he wanted to take her.

When they finally stopped Temari found that all of her irritation slipped away as if it had never been as she stared at the front of a little restaurant. It was obviously a bit older than she remembered and the once grey and weary roof had been replaced with sturdy brown shingles and the door had been painted an eye-catching red but she remembered the place as clearly as if she had never left and it had never changed. It had opened many years ago on one of her working trips to Konoha and they had gone on one of their first dates there, and it had become something of a favorite for the both of them.

Calmed and curious Temari stepped into restaurant as Shikamaru held open the door for her, peering around and noting that they still hadn't figured out how to water the little cactus plant that resided on the table by the door and that they had, however, finally fixed the glitch light that always flickered whenever someone opened the door.

They were led to a comfortable booth over in a quiet corner and Temari waited for the waitress to take their orders for their drinks before she turned to look at Shikamaru.

"So why did you bring me here?" She quietly asked, glancing around to try and pick out everything else that was familiar and was not.

"We need to talk." He answered simply and Temari felt a small but viciously hot lead ball of dread settle into the pit of her stomach, knowing that those words couldn't lead to anything good.

Maybe he had gotten tired of all of the stress she had added to his life and wanted to ask her to leave him and the kids so that they could go back to their stress-free and happy life with Maria. He was probably tired of not getting any sleep because of her nightmares, and how could she tell him that it would get better when she had a feeling that it wouldn't? The psychiatrist she had been seeing hadn't even bothered mentioning those empty words to her because they both knew that there was no way that such a wishful phrase could come true.

She knew that the words he had just spoken were a sign of the end of everything she held dearly, and the most pitiful thing was that she couldn't be angry about it. All she could do was miserably accept it because a small piece of her whispered that this was the best course of action and she believed it.

"Then talk." She demanded bleakly, not wanting to hold off the inevitable.

"The way things are going isn't working." He started, pausing to tell the waitress that they weren't ready to give their orders yet, unable to hear the sound of Temari's heart shattering to pieces around them. "We're trying too hard to get things to fit in a place that they just don't want to go and it isn't working."

She didn't want to hear it, not when she had been trying so hard, but she forced herself to remain in place and fisted her hands in her lap her nails digging into her palms and the miniscule pain forcing her to calm down.

"So what?" She muttered harshly, "Do you just want to take a break or are you looking for something more permanent?"

"Neither." He said simply as if he hadn't heard the vicious bite that her tone held, "We've both been trying to make everything go back to the way it was ten years ago and we need to stop before we ruin everything. It's putting stress on you when you don't need it, and we're both different people from who we were back then. What we need to do is realize that this isn't our old relationship but something different and we need to work with that."

Temari blinked and then blinked again, wondering when exactly Shikamaru had gotten so good at emotions and analyzing relationships because he was right. They had both been trying to settle into what they once had instead of realizing that that just wasn't possible anymore. They had both changed in their years apart and they had to learn each other again before trying to move on with each other.

"So… Is this supposed to be a date?" She asked, relaxing back into her seat as he sent her a disgruntled look that made her smirk.

"If you want to think about it that way then you can." He said, and Temari easily translated that into a _yes_.

"Hmm… You know, I generally have a three date rule about sleeping with people." She could, if she looked hard enough, catch the tiniest hint of red on his face that took her nostalgically back to when they had first started everything all those years ago.

Really, he was still so cute.

"Though I guess I could make an exception if we get dessert. Do they still have the caramel truffle ice cream here?"

Shikamaru huffed out a sigh and she heard him mutter his ever familiar _troublesome,_ but neither of them could even bother to hide the smirking smiles that grew on their faces.

* * *

Oh! Also! This goes along with what my beautiful little Hektols said about chapter 54:

**"...It's nice to see that the couple resumed their life like never happened." **

And I just kind of wanted to show that they actually didn't. They were separated for ten years and went through so much when they were apart and when they finally got back together they had changed and had grown up without each other. They hadn't grown _apart_-they held on to each other too desperately for that- they had just changed and their relationship needed to change too.

Also! Also! I'm finally bringing Kiba and his lady into the story! It has been requested and I said somewhere around thirty chapters ago that I've had someone figured out for him but I just didn't have _everything _figured out about that. I know some people said that there were people in the filler episodes for him (I don't watch the animea so I wouldn't know any from that), but I couldn't remember and from the manga and I got the idea of my OC stuck in my head and she just wouldn't go away.

So... yeah.

I also got my hair cut off (about a foot) and it's now flippy and around an inch or two above my shoulders! I'm rocking it like a sassy sexy hippo (really, I come up with the weirdest things).

See you soon, my pretties!


	79. Puzzle Pieces, KibaEri

Hello my lovelies, long time no see. I just want you to do something for me really quickly. Look up at the top of your screen. Do you see the story summary? Do you notice anything different?

Why yes, I did just bring Kiba into my little Naruto-verse. Isn't that amazing?

Just a small warning: this is not the best chapter I've ever written (And I'm not used to writing for Kiba and I'm really worrying that I didn't do it right). But it gets that character out there (finally).

Now, this is for xFallingxCastlexWallsx, a sweet little dear who I promised this to... almost four months ago, and I mentioned writing this a few months before that.

Yeah... I suck.

Well, enjoy!

* * *

"Hello. My name is Hikari Eri and from today I will be your new assistant. It will be a pleasure to serve you, Hokage-sama." Eri stated calmly, staying still and silent for a moment before peeking up from her respectful bow to look into the full length mirror she was practicing in, searching for any possible imperfections with her greeting towards her new boss.

Her bow was too low. She didn't want the man to think that she would grovel at his feet so she'd have to rise up a bit, though she couldn't go up too much since she still had to show respect. Just the littlest bit higher and... there. Perfect.

And her voice. It needed to be less... everything. She needed to sound professional and reliable so that they could see that she was right for the job and she did _not _have to sound like she was trying to get hired onto a phone-sex service. But it was just how her voice was and there really wasn't much she could do because she knew that even if she tried her hardest to hide it it would slip some day and it was best not to hide even the tiniest of things from very powerful and very suspicious ninjas, especially when dealing with their precious Hokage.

Well, she could at least get rid of the mention of servitude. She didn't know what the Hokage was like and she certainly didn't want to give him anything close to the wrong ideas.

With a smooth smile that professionally hid everything Eri bowed once again -no longer or deeper than was strictly respectful- and tried once again.

"Hello. My name is Hikari Eri and from today on I will be your new assistant. I look forward to working with you, Hokage-sama."

After another pause she straightened and nodded at her reflection, viciously shoving the pins in her hair into place so that no stray hairs could slip from their places in the sleek up-do. The person who had contacted her about the job had told her just to wear whatever she was comfortable with -after all they were ninjas, not board room stiffs- and despite the looks she knew she'd receive for her less than regulation attire she had on it was what she was the most comfortable with in the situation.

Though, she supposed that it was a bit strange that what she was most comfortable with was a slate gray pencil skirt and a matching jacket with a pale pink blouse, but she enjoyed looking professional for work. It reminded her of the new direction she was going to lead her life towards.

Walking to her door she slipped on dangerously high and vividly red platform pump stilettos that added far more inches than were necessary to her height -the only nonprofessional article she would allow herself- and gave herself a short and bracing mental pep-talk before stepping out the door to start the walk to the Hokage tower.

She got a few looks on her way, most from women wincing in sympathy over her excruciating looking footwear, but she also caught a few of the eyes from a few highly skilled and perceptive people who realized that she was not just some civilian and wondered what kind of a ninja wore a suit when not on an undercover mission.

Once inside of the tower she went up to the level that the Hokage's office lay and stared in shock at the complete chaos that greeted her when she stepped into the spacious front office.

The drawers of filing cabinets were throw open and paperwork was strewn about, teetering stacks of files and folders preforming a precarious balancing act on the edges of chairs. The skeleton of what could have once been a plant lay shriveled up in a corner, and what could have been a desk was buried beneath mountains of scrolls and she could just barely see the top of a messy head of brown hair over the overwhelming pile.

"Hello?" Eri called out to the head, watching as it popped up to reveal a boy who narrowed his eyes at her when he finally got a good look at her.

"... Who're you?" He asked rudely, but Eri didn't let his tone faze her. Really, she'd be rude to anyone who bothered her if she was stuck alone with this mess too.

"Hikari Eri. I am the Hokage's new assistant." She didn't know what she had been expecting as an answer to her statement but it certainly wasn't the look of complete contempt that he shot towards her.

"Oh. Well, that's just great. You people just keep coming and coming and you absolutely refuse to stop making everything a bigger mess then it already was! Do you see all of this?" The boy practically shouted, motioning to the disaster around them. "This was done by the last assistant, and Nii-chan's office is even worse! You know what, you should just leave now because I think he should have stopped bringing you people in after the third one because these last twenty have been unbearable!" He shouted, turning and stomping through the thick double doors that separated them from the Hokage's office, the door slamming shut behind him.

Eri stood in the middle of the empty room, surrounded by the disaster apparently caused by the Hokage's _twenty-third_ assistant and wondered at what had just happened.

Apparently she was supposed to just go away because some kid got pissy and told her to. Well, she didn't care what some little brat said, she was staying. She had worked far too hard to get this chance and she wasn't going to scurry on home with her tail between her legs.

Shrugging it and her jacket off Eri rolled up her sleeves and steeled herself from the harrowing task ahead of her.

Nearly six hours later a pair of men -one with brown hair and the other with yellow- stepped out of the Hokage's main office and into the front office, stopping to stare in shock at the nearly fully cleaned office. Eri sat in the slightly uncomfortable office chair and was going through disorganized stacks of papers and scrolls, sorting them out to her preference and barely sparing the pair a glance.

"One of the filing cabinets is broken so another will need to be ordered, and I need the key to the records room so that I can put all of these completed mission scrolls up and get them out of the way. All of the pens were involved in the breaking of the cabinet -a very skillful and angry sabotage, might I add- so more of those will be needed, and a very nasty profanity was written on one of the walls in lipstick, so it would really be best to get that taken care of soon." Waiting for a moment for one of them to reply Eri looked up, studying their stunned faces with an air of professionalism.

"Ah... Konohamaru? Who is this?" Naruto asked to boy standing beside him who simply shrugged before shaking his head.

"Apparently your newest assistant." They watched as the woman decided to ignore them and instead get back to the papers, "It actually seems like she knows what she's doing though."

Naruto waited for a minute before nodding and turning to leave and take a much needed Ichiraku break, pausing before he was out the door. "Go ahead and order the stuff you'll need, I guess." He sighed, preparing himself for yet another strenuous assistant. Really, If Konohamaru wasn't as bad -worse even- with paperwork and dealing with people as he was he would have got the job, but the fact that he had no assistant skills other than being likable and also the fact that he wished to remain on the active roster and take missions kept him from getting the job, though he did help out in times of desperate need.

Eri looked back up from the papers and smiled professionally at him. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. I am Hikari Eri and I look forward to working for you."

Naruto nodded and turned away, wondering what was going to be wrong with this assistant. At least it seemed like she was pretty good at tidying messes, something a vast majority of his past assistants couldn't claim.

* * *

Eri hoped that all of her hard work was starting to change the Hokage's mind over whether or not she was going to work out as his assistant, because the looks that people were shooting her –surprised that she was still there and questioning when she _would _leave- were starting to grate on her nerves. And sure, she could see that after twenty-three previous misses he wasn't exactly expecting to finally get it right with her but she was working her butt off to fix everything that had been made askew by the apparent morons who had tried to do so earlier.

Konohamaru had come back after a week to lay out the rules for her, grudgingly admitting that she was doing a decent job and that he didn't want them all to go through all of it again so she had better not mess it up. He had said that she needed to at least tolerate the Hokage's children and friends because Naruto hated people being rude to them, which Eri knew she would have no problem doing. She might not have had too much interaction with children but she did know how to hide her own feelings beautifully, so even if they annoyed her to no end there was only the most miniscule chance of her slipping.

The next rules were that she couldn't steal and she couldn't leak any information or sabotage anything. She was not allowed to just up and disappear without getting permission and she wasn't allowed to let personal issues like grooming herself -this rule explained why she had found nail clippings beneath the desk- affect her work. Complaining was not to be tolerated and she was basically just to help out with as much paperwork as possible and make sure the Hokage didn't overwork himself or skip out too much.

The last rule was that she could not, under any circumstances, try to seduce the Hokage. Apparently some had tried this before, one even attempting to drug him so that he'd be more receptive, and they were all quickly fired. Eri had absolutely no problem with falling in with this rule immediately.

From what she had observed the Hokage was madly in love with his wife, pulling out pictures of her and their children if even the tiniest of mention of them was made. She hadn't even seen him so much as glance at another woman in interest, let alone her, and she had never seen such devotion and love before.

It was kind of incredible.

Weeks passed and they fell into a pattern of her eventually gaining more trust and in turn receiving more work. She had no complaints, however, with her growing work load because it gave her a sense of satisfaction that she had rarely felt before. She was working hard at something worthwhile that brought no sense of shame to her and she was happy.

She'd almost forgotten what happy was like.

One day, after a particularly wealthy and nasally merchant was let into the Hokage's office to discuss a high profile mission that he had requested and that had been completed -though from the disdainful curl of his lips when she had gone in to serve him tea and discreetly give the Hokage a breather from the man, it hadn't gone the way he would have liked.

Keeping an ear on the door just in case the sounds of the Hokage losing his temper over the stuck up attitude of the other man and then attacking him leaked out, Eri accidentally knocked over her pen holder and before she could catch it pens spilled out and rolled off of the smooth wood of her desk and onto the floor.

Muttering silent curses under her breath Eri walked around to the front of the desk and got down on her hands and knees to pick up the evil little demons that seemed to almost be leaping away from her searching fingers. She hissed as she spotted one that had rolled all the way under the desk and had lodged magically under the desk itself and crawled underneath to it, hissing again when she heard the door open and somebody enter.

_Well,_ she grumbled to herself, finally getting a hold on the pen and yanking, _This is just great._

* * *

Kiba grumbled as he made his way up the steps of the Hokage tower, Akamaru trotting faithfully at his side. He was used to getting a mission, completing the mission, turning in the mission scroll and report and then being done with it. He was not, however, used to having the person who commissioned the mission wanting to _discuss _it, especially since the damn thing had been a success. He wouldn't have even come if it hadn't been for losing a stupid bet to Naruto.

He couldn't remember what it had been over but he did remember that he had lost -though her would assure anyone that asked that it hadn't been by much- and apparently Naruto had gotten pressure from the council about meeting with one of their lofty benefactors, which in turn forced him to cash in on his favor.

Already ready to turn around and head back home Kiba pushed through the office doors and was forced to a halt at the sight that he was met with.

The first thing that hit him were the shoes. They were very... red. Very red and very high and very... God, those were some shoes. The legs that led off of the heels were pretty fantastic too, and though he couldn't get a good look at anything else since she was hidden beneath the desk she had apparently crawled under if he judged by the way her skirt stretched over her ass the girl was definitely something to look into.

With a wide grin Kiba sauntered over to lean against the desk, smirking down at the woman.

"Need any help down there?" He called and Eri froze, rolling her eyes as she finally pulled the pen free and slid back so that she could get a good look at the man who had decided to try and attempt to flirt with her.

She could see that his leather jacket hid firm muscles, and from the markings on his face he was from a clan –Inuzaka, if she recalled correctly. His hair was messy and his smirk was cocky, and he had an air of wildness around him that she could see appealing to most women. But not her. She had a plan and there was no room in it for any attraction of any kind towards some random, hot and horny guy.

The way her eyes studied him almost as if he were something smeared on a petri dish set him on edge, so he decided he might as well do the same and get a good look at her.

Her hair was a pale bleached blonde and was sleekly held at the back of her head in an elegant hairstyle that didn't have a single strand out of place. Her eyes, when they met his, were a flinty slate gray that held a promise of immovable strength and currently shined with a cool professionalism that cloaked her in dignity even as she sat down on the floor clutching a now slightly bent pen.

"No, thank you though." She said, gracefully and amazingly getting back on her feet without any help or a wobble from the heels. "Do you have an appointment with the Hokage?" She asked as she smoothly slid back into her seat and making the man opposite of her blink.

"Ah... so you're the new assistant?" He asked, suddenly taking in her smooth navy skirt and white blouse. He was certain he'd never seen an assistant like that since all of the ones before -even the ditzy ones who dressed like hookers- had been skilled ninja. Perhaps they were more worried about the quality of Naruto's paper work and had hired out from a secretarial company.

"Yes, I am. Do you have an appointment, Inuzaka-san?" She asked once again, coolly.

"Yeah, the idiot-" He started, but was interrupted as the door was practically thrown open with the sheer force of the desperation the blonde haired Hokage was exuding after having finally heard Kiba's voice.

"Kiba! Hotaka-san has been waiting for you to get here for a _very_ long time with nothing to do but talk. To me." He said, his blue eyes shining with desperation and pleas. Kiba sighed wearily and shrugged, sending another short glance to the blonde woman who was now skillfully ignoring him before looking back towards the Hokage office and grimacing.

"Yeah, well, I didn't really want to come in the first place and then Akamaru found something much better for us to do and we-"

"Is that a dog?" A nasally and whining voice spoke up from inside of the office, making the Hokage's eye twitch. "I'm allergic to dogs. If I get anywhere near a dog I'll start sneezing and I won't be able to stop and then I won't be able to breathe and I'll start wheezing and-" He was forced to stop be a sudden body shaking sneeze.

"See! It's already -Achoo!- starting! Get that animal -Achoo!- out of here!"

Naruto was gripping the door jamb so tightly that Eri thought there was a serious chance of the wood shattering to splinters beneath the overpowering strength of his annoyance and anger. The Inuzaka -Kiba- looked extremely pissed off and even the large dog that had come to stand by his side looked mad.

"Kiba," Naruto managed to grit out, "Could Akamaru stay out here?" He asked, trying to keep his head since the council had already warned him what pissing this guy off would do. He controlled nearly a third of the imported goods into Konoha and Naruto -even though he still wasn't the best at figuring things like this out- knew that if the guy decided for some reason to withhold his goods the markets and a vast majority of the people who depended on said markets were screwed.

But even knowing this a tiny part of him still wanted to tell the guy where he could shove those goods of his and wipe his hands of the whole thing.

"What?! No way in he-" Kiba started only to be interrupted by a still disinterested looking Eri who was writing something out on a scroll.

"Inuzaka-san, please go on with your appointment. Akamaru-san may stay out here and keep me company, if it does not bother you." She said, lifting her eyes from the scroll to meet Kiba's and send him a professionally collected and somehow comforting look.

After a silent moment of fuming Kiba growled out something that sounded like "Fine," and then angrily strode into the office, an almost equally annoyed Naruto closing the door behind him.

Eri sat still in the office for a moment before turning and looking to the overly large shaggy dog who sat alone in the center of the room, staring at her with a surprisingly steady and clear gaze. They watched each other silently for a moment, assessing, before Eri's face relaxed into a smile.

"Hello, lovely." She murmured warmly, rolling her chair back so that she could allow the dog to trot over and testingly sniff her. Holding her hand out for permission she waited for Akamaru to nudge her hand before petting him, scratching the top of his head and playfully ruffling his floppy ears, absolutely adoring the sweet way his tongue rolled goofily out of his mouth.

Forty-five minutes later when the merchant strode out of the office with his nose high he didn't notice Akamaru laying down at her feet and he didn't even sniffle.

* * *

After the door shut behind the pretentious and whining prick Kiba was unable to hold in his growl anymore and threw the packet of papers that the man had so kindly gifted to him -papers that outlined all of his mistakes on the mission and how he could fix them- at the door.

"Naruto, that damn bet is clear and you owe me now. You owe me big time." Kiba growled, angrily pacing to work off the furious energy.

"Yeah, well, I'm not all that happy about this either. I wanted to throw him out of the window before you even got here, and all of that sniffling and stuff about dog hair after you sat down made me want to rasengan him in the face before doing it."

Kiba roughly chuckled before flopping down in one of the chairs across from Naruto's desk, sighing as he stared up at the ceiling.

"So," He said in what he thought was a casual way, "About that new assistant of yours..."

"Oh no!" Naruto shouted, jumping up and pointing a scolding finger at the other man. "You don't go near Eri! She's the best assistant I've ever had! She does paperwork and sorts through the requested missions and she files things in these files that are organized and color coded and neat! She doesn't try to sleep with me or anyone else that comes through and she's as close to perfect as I'm going to get with this _and you are not going to ruin it for sex!_"

Kiba winced at how high the blonde man's voice had gotten and held up a hand to placate, not wanting to listen to an hour long high-pitched lecture. "Yeah, yeah, sure. I was just wondering how you got the council to agree to a civilian assistant." Naruto blinked at him for a moment in confusion.

"... Is she a civilian?" He asked, only to have Kiba shrug.

"I guessed so because of how she dresses and because she just doesn't feel like a kunoichi." Naruto contemplated this for a moment before shrugging.

"Well, we could ask her and see what she says." He said, going to the door and into the other office with Kiba, finding Eri dutifully at her paperwork as usual, though her usual professional look was ruined by the fact that an oversized dog's head was propped into her lap, eyes gazing up at her adoringly.

"Hey, Eri," Naruto said, making the other blonde look up at him. "Are you a ninja or a civilian?"

Eri stared at him a moment before taking the question in stride and shuffling her papers so that they were perfectly alined.

"I am a trained ninja, Hokage-sama."

"Oh."

"You're about the same age as us, right?" Kiba asked, still curious and now even more so at seeing how Akamaru had taken to her.

"If you are the same age as the Hokage then I am twenty-seven to your twenty-six." She stated simply.

"Then we would have seen you around, wouldn't we? Around the exams or when we were getting missions."

Eri sighed, already having seen this as inevitable. At least after she explained, as a ninja and the Hokage he would understand and if he didn't he would have to simply judge her on her work ethic.

"My clan does not go to the regular ninja academy and instead we are privately tutored. And the kind of missions I do are solo missions that are passed to the head of my clan by the council because she knows who best to send on them. Better than the Hokage, at least -and my apologies for saying so, Hokage-sama."

"So," Naruto started, his forehead furrowing as he tried to figure it out, "What is your clan?"

"It is very small and extremely private, and it it one that is not often mentioned in polite conversations. We are used expressly in the more serious seduction missions and as such are trained from a very early age for them and have no time nor need for the usual training."

"Serious seduction missions?" Kiba asked, slightly puzzled. Quite a few ninja went on seduction missions and he had to wonder at what made one more serious than others.

"Ones that can drag on for even years at a time and that require me creating intricate relationships and personalities that I must be able to destroy with a single breath and without feeling any remorse." Eri said watching them for a moment before bluntly adding, "In my clan we are trained as seductresses and whores, if that helps you to clear things up."

Ignoring the slightly shocked looks they sent her Eri picked up her papers and a pen, turning to hold them out to the Hokage, who just proceeded to stare at her like she had multiple heads sprouting from her butt.

"Hokage-sama, I'll need you to sign this."

* * *

Eri did not take vacation days and she did not get sick so she did not take sick days, but that did not mean she was a workaholic and she certainly never complained about her days off. Her days off were the days that she could do anything she wanted and could go any and everywhere.

So on these days she slipped off her heels and put on a pair of sweatpants so that she could lay back on her couch without a care in the world and watch horror movies with messy sandwiches and pints of ice cream while she drank beer.

God, she loved her days off.

She paused the video when a knock sounded on her door and walked over to it, stretching the kinks out of her back and wondering at what she should do for the next movie. There was that one with the cannibals -a classic- or she could go for her newest addition about a ninja spirit that completely tortures and slaughters an entire island.

Mulling over her thoughts she opened the door and found herself face to face with a certain Inuzaka who had been undeterred in his flirting in the past months. Really, the only reason she even paid him any mind was because he was relentless at using his dog to get her to pay attention to her. She figured that the only reason he was even bothering was because he learned about her training and figured that she would be a good lay -and she would be. She would blow his little mind and leave him as a panting puddle of hormones without even breaking a sweat.

But she had a plan, and he was not in it.

Sighing and crossing her arms under her chest she leaned against the open doorway and wondered how weird it would look to pedestrians if she just started banging her head against the doorjamb.

It was her day off and she just didn't want to deal with it.

* * *

Kiba didn't really know how it had started. After that whole "special training seductress" thing he had started to wonder about her because sure, she was hot, but the way she held herself was just way too professional to be sexy in the usual sense and she was just so... professional.

But after coming into the office a few more times and watching her a bit -not in a creepy way- he found little bits that continued to pull him in and make him wonder more about her. Her shoes were a big part of it, mostly because he couldn't believe that someone could actually walk in them, and then there was the way that she always looked effortlessly perfect and smooth. It was almost unnatural the way she pulled it off so effortlessly.

And so he watched her some more and became more and more intrigued as time went on. Akamaru _adored _her, which was something that usually took a lot of effort and was something that no other woman but Hinata had managed. Akamaru had really seemed to tolerate the others because at that time they made him happy, and Kiba just couldn't figure it out until one day he walked in and smelt roast beef heavy on the air and his dog licking slim fingers, though he knew the food was only a part of it.

He knew that he might be a little obsessed but she was like a puzzle he had to piece together, so it was easy to get Akamaru to swipe something of her's -a little silver compact mirror- so that he could have the excuse of coming over to her place and seeing her in her natural environment.

He didn't know what he had been expecting but it certainly wasn't an apartment building that was so far past it's prime that it was standing on crutches and it certainly wasn't the woman who was staring in front of him with a hint of exasperation in her usually professional eyes. Her usually sleek hair was pulled back into a tangled ponytail -almost like she had just woken up and simply slipped the hair-tie into it- and instead of her usual suit or the slacks he had anticipated she was wearing a pair of comfortable gray sweatpants and a tight white wife beater.

And he could suddenly see the sexiness.

"Yes, Inuzaka-san?" She asked in her usual professional tone, though by the way her eyes were dangerously narrowed and her hip was slightly cocked she was feeling anything but professional.

"Here." He said, holding out the compact for her to take, "I had Akamaru steal this from you." Eri blinked at the compact for a moment before laughing so hard that she wrapped her arms around her stomach, the loud belly laughs making her whole body shake and bringing tears to her eyes.

"That... That is really quite forward, Inuzaka-san." She chuckled, and Kiba sent a sharp toothed grin towards her that would have made a lesser woman swoon.

"Well, since I've stolen from you and gone into your apartment without permission," He said, and she noticed that he had taken advantage of her lapse in concentration to step into her apartment before she could say anything, "I think it's about time for you to start calling me Kiba, Eri."

"Alright then. Kiba, leave my apartment." She said, pointing out her still open doorway, "Now, if you'd please_."_

"Well, I figured that since me and Akamaru are here we might as well hang around a bit. After all, Akamaru seems to have taken to liking you." He said, and right on cue she felt a heavy and warm and furry weight settling against her side, big eyes pleading with her and making her lips twitch.

"I'm not sleeping with you."

"Thought never crossed my mind."

"You have to go buy more beer."

"Obviously."

"And Akamaru is sitting with me on the couch. You can have the chair, though you'll have to be careful since there's a loose spring."

He sighed. "Of course."

She really didn't know why she decided to let them stay. Maybe as a test to see how long it would take for Kiba to crack and ask for a first hand experience with her famed talents and maybe to see if he even would, but next thing Eri knew Kiba and Akamaru were frequent visitors.

Kiba was nice. He had a somewhat crude mouth if he wasn't paying attention and he got angry quickly, especially if people he cared about -especially his dog- were involved. He was fiercely protective and he had a somewhat twisted and slightly perverted sense of humor, and he was fun. But most importantly, he didn't ask her for anything inappropriate or sexual.

Kiba was learning a lot with their time too, and the more he learned the more intrigued he became.

She loved horror movies, and laughed when watching them like they were a raunchy comedy instead of a movie about the physical and mental torture of dentists, or some such thing. She liked not caring about how she looked and she always managed to look amazing when she did so, and she didn't just like Akamaru and feed him because she seemed to generally adore dogs. She ate whatever she felt like eating and when she loosened up she was witty and had an appreciation of his perverse humor and could give it right back to him, and she made it clear that if he had problems with who she was he knew where the door was.

And then back at work she was still as professional and perfect as always.

During one of her off days while they were watching some type of idiotic drama while they waited for their food to be delivered Kiba turned to her -he had finally graduated up to the couch level- and decided to ask a question that had been on his mind for quite some time.

"So, how exactly did you decide to become the Hokage's assistant?" He asked, watching as she shrugged and took another swig of her beer.

"I didn't, really. I just decided that I had to get out of my clan, and that eventually got me to where I am now." Seeing that he didn't understand and would demand a better answer she sighed and turned towards him, tucking her legs up under her.

"In my clan you start training in the usual way at the same time as everyone else, but when we turn ten we start on our more personalized 'whore training', and no, that is not what it is actually called. We have to be extremely good with chakra because we can't bulk up or get any unpleasing muscles -plus there are a lot of sexual acts that chakra makes very interesting- and we learn as much about sex as we can without actually doing it until we turn fourteen. After that it's another year of training and then we get out first mission." Feeling a bit uncomfortable with the way he was just watching her and wishing that she knew what he was thinking, Eri had to force herself to not fidget.

"For twelve years I worked as a prostitute for this village and I feel no shame in it. I saved lives and I helped people, and I can never regret that. But twelve years of false _'I love you'_s on my part and twelve years of being on my back and pretending to be dozens of different people that I am not wore me down to where I couldn't take it anymore. And I couldn't stay in my clan after I stopped taking missions since one of the rules is that once you stop taking missions you have to get pregnant to continue the clan and I wasn't ready for that. So I was wandering around the Hokage tower just trying to figure out what to do after I ran away and I overheard some people discussing applications for the Hokage's assistant. I've played secretary numerous times and something just felt... right about it. So I slipped my application on top and fudged some of the others and a day later I got a call and got the job."

"Right now, all I want to do is be this professional, composed, hard working person. I want to make something of myself so that I don't have to look back anymore and wonder if the person I think I am is even real. So I'm working as hard as I can to make sure that I don't screw anything up, and I'm actually pretty happy." She said, shrugging and turning back to the TV just in time to see one of the characters kissing another.

"No! What are you doing? You love Miki, not this floozy!" She groaned angrily, practically growling as the two characters started in for the bed. "God, this is so _stupid._ Why are we watching it again?" She asked, though she didn't try to tear her eyes away from the screen.

And Kiba watched her for a moment before shrugging and turning back to the television, smirking slightly as he slipped a few more pieces into the puzzle.

* * *

It had been nearly an entire year from the time she had first stepped into the Haokage's office and nearly a year from the first time she and Kiba had met, and Eri found that she had a lot to think about.

She loved her job and she was doing _great _at it, and there was no way she was going to give it up, especially now that she had gained the trust of everyone involved. She went in every day and now had a happy little life as proof of her hard work. Everything had gone perfectly to plan.

But for Kiba.

He was her best friend, the first one she had ever had outside of a mission and the first one she was determined to keep. He was funny and rude and he had a great dog, and he never seemed to mind the fact that once upon a time she had been, as she liked to say, nothing more than a prostitute for the village. He laughed right along with her when they watched the horror movies and though sometimes she swore he sent her this little searching, searing look, he never acted on it or ask her to break the no sex rule she had laid out that very first day.

And he had managed to perfectly ruin her plan by making her start to fall in love with him.

She had started down this road a few times before, but the guilt of knowing that she was not who they thought she was or the thought of her inevitable betrayal had stopped her from doing more than fancying the notion, but with Kiba she didn't have any of that to hide behind. She only had herself and she was growing more worried by the day about the steep and jagged cliff she was standing over. She just didn't know what do do.

And the clueless man she was feeling all of this towards wasn't helping things either, though all he was doing was being himself.

So, one day when watching him from his little kitchenette in his apartment as he sat watching some comedy show on the television, his feet propped up on the coffee table, Eri came to a decision.

Closing the fridge and walking over to him, she waited until he looked over at her.

"Oh, is there no more beer? I could have sworn that-"

"I have," She said, shamelessly interrupting him, "Slept with numerous men, and even some women, but only one has been out of my own choice while not during a mission or training, and it was out of pity more than anything. I understand how relationships work, though I only went into them during a mission so it feels like a lie to say that, and I know so many ways to seduce a man we couldn't even go into half of them tonight. But right now I'm not going to use any of those skills and I'm just going to ask you straight out if you would like to have sex with me."

The way he was staring at her was so hilarious that had she not been so nervous -and she couldn't quite understand why she was- she would have been laughing at the dumbstruck look on his face.

"Um..." He said dumbly, "What?"

"Sex, Kiba. I want to know if you'd like to have sex with me."

"Wait," He said, sitting up and staring at her intensely, "Are you saying that you want to have _pity sex_ with me?" He asked, latching onto one of the least important parts of her little speech.

Eri knew that with the heavy knot in her stomach she shouldn't be laughing, but she just couldn't help it. Chuckling, she shook her head at the insulted man and sat down on the arm of his couch.

"No, God no." She said, blowing a strand of hair out of her eye as she tried to figure out what to say to get him to believe her.

"I've got... feelings for you. You're my best friend, but my feelings go deeper than that. I'm attracted to you for a small part, and a much bigger part is that I love you, and am falling in love with you." Eri paused for a moment and studied the slightly shocked expression on Kiba's face. "And those are two different things."

There was a beat of everlasting silence before Kiba finally spoke up.

"So you want to have sex." He waited for her to nod, "Not pity sex, but feelings sex," Another nod, "Because you like me as a friend and as more than a friend," One more nod, "Because you both love and are in love with me, which are two different things." She nodded once again.

"Well..." He said slowly, as if he had to think about it, before grinning his usual feral and smug grin, "It's a little strange since we haven't even kissed yet, and usually there would be no _way_ you would get through this without buying me dinner first, but I suppose that I can. Though I _do_ feel a little cheap." He teased as she grinned, hiding how relieved she was that she hadn't just been denied and ruined everything.

But just before they entered the door to Kiba's room -both of them coming to a silent agreement that a bed would probably be best for what they had in mind- Eri stopped and turned to him, grabbing a fistful of his shirt before jerking him towards herself and kissing him in a way that she knew was guaranteed to turn even the steadfast of men into a puddle of malleable goo.

She might have told him that she wasn't going to use her skills, but that was just for getting him to go along with her. Once they started on that path she wanted to make sure that he knew that neither of them were going to hold back, and she knew that by the end of the night he was going to be eternally grateful.

Pulling back she smiled at him. "There now, now you don't have to feel cheap about that whole 'no kiss' thing." She said before turning around continuing back into the bedroom, grinning widely when she heard a growl and felt him come up behind her, giving her a good solid push towards the bed.

* * *

A few hours later, both of them properly tired out and sated, they lay looking up at the ceiling, their breathing calming and the sweat on their overheated skin beginning to dry uncomfortably. Eri was in the middle of an inner battle where she was trying to decide if she wanted to move and put forth the effort to reach for the sheet that had probably ended up tangled somewhere on the floor when Kiba interrupted her private little self discussion.

"Those feelings and things you were talking about earlier? I've got them for you too." He said, and it wasn't even close to the most eloquent confession she had ever heard. It was probably actually the worst but laying there knowing what he really hid behind his words she knew that the falseness of the most beautiful poetry ever written would have ruined it.

There was a beat of comfortable silence before Kiba decided to speak up once more.

"So... You and women, huh? Exactly how many?" He asked, trying to sound casual, "And were there more than one at a time?"

Eri had to admit that there was something to be said about a man who could make you laugh so much that it hurt while you were laying naked after a nice long round of good sex.

* * *

Well, that's her. And like I said, not my best.

Here's the story of Eri's reckoning:

I work as an office aide at my school, which probably influence the character a lot (I love the job and I find filing paperwork surprisingly soothing). The story of the suit is that I made a doodle of this girl in a suit and it just connected in my head that she would wear a suit (I don't know why. I no longer question these things) and the only heels I could draw were the dangerously high "hooker heels". And also, one day when I was in the shower it just randomly came up in my mind that oh, she's also a trained ninja-prostitute.

Well, tada!

To my newest darlings:

systemman- Thank you for your thoughts and support! You keep on rocking your bad self!

TheCookieMonster77- Hmm... I sense an idea for a chapter. But really, Hinata had a very big influence over that part of the kids' personalities, though I'd have to say that Yuka would be. Leo's too determined to not waste his time (unless it would bother Yuka) and Mino's too... Mino, and Kori just wouldn't be interested unless it was on a small scale against her friends, and Yuki is too busy trying to make sure that Yuka doesn't get in trouble.

Nameless little guest- Thank you! Your're so sweet! (But really, only 90%? I think my dazzling personality should add on another 2% easy)

And to one of my not-so-new little dears xFallingxCastlexWallsx- Yes, that is actually a pretty big part of it, all wrapped up and pretty. I guess some of it is that Mino sees the innocence in Kaya that he didn't really get to have for very long, and he cherishes and protects that part of her because he can't have that anymore. Another part is that (in my head) Kaya exudes the same calming vibe as Hinata, and Mino is just a little Mama's boy.

I guess I have to apologize to everyone about getting them so attached to MomoMino, but truthfully I had Kaya planned before Momo and the two of them would never be more then friends in my mind.

Momo gets her heart broken, but it's a young heart break and she'll get over it and she'll move on, though Mino will always be her first love. I've already got someone else for her, so she won't be lonely.

Things new with LadyArinn: Worrying a lot about college; Thinking about starting to watch Doctor Who; I had supreme pizza (yum, veggies); I ate eighteen mini Airheads in less than two day (I am ashamed and I want more).

Onward, my brethren! We go to slay the vampiric Poptarts in their sadistic layers! Ha ha ha!


	80. A Cat for Luck

Hello my pretties! Guess what time it is?

Why yes, it _is _time for a new chapter!

This one is a continuation of my chapter _Raining Cats and Dogs_, and I felt that it was finally time for me to introduce you to Jiro's cat summon (don't ask about the name of the chapter, I was desperate).

* * *

"...So you just put yourself down here on the contract and then go through the proper hand seals -boar, dog, bird, monkey and then ram- and then hopefully we'll get ourselves a cat." The kunoichi told the young pink haired boy, pushing long dark purple hair behind her ear.

"A few things to keep in mind though is that you don't know who you're getting, and it's unusual for you to get a cat summon that doesn't stick around and switches with another though it does happen, but if you get one that does stick try not to piss it off."

"Because it will leave?"

"No, because it never will and they're vindictive little bastards that will torture you mercilessly. They are sadistic and evil-minded and are the most manipulative creatures you will ever come across. They are greedy, demanding, unreasonable and pretentious and if you tell them that I said anything but nice things about them I'll tell them that you are a dog person and will gladly stand back and just watch them murder you." She warned, shoving one of her long nailed fingers under his nose and glaring at him until he nodded.

Taking a breath Jiro cut his thumb on one of his kunai and then signed the large scroll, marking it with his finger prints and carefully making the hand seals, taking a breath before he slapped his hand to the ground and released the needed chakra to try and calm himself.

He had spent weeks tracking down the only person in the village who had a cat summon, the elusive kunoichi figuring that it would be fun to mess with the little pink haired boy before getting around to seeing what he wanted. When he had finally cornered her to ask her to be on the contract it had been in a lingerie shop and he had been so embarrassed that his face had been the same hue as his hair, but the woman had said that she admired his ambition and his will to do what needed to be done, so she had moved past her misgivings about his age and had agreed.

And with a slight puff of smoke Jiro finally had a summon.

The cat wasn't very big but it was older than a kitten and was a slick furred black that on close inspection showed even darker markings. Piercing gold eyes studied him for the barest moment, giving him a quick once over, before narrowing its eyes at him.

"Good lord, your hair is pink."

Jiro blinked and looked at the woman for guidance, only to see her rolling up her scroll and turning away as if he wasn't event there. Turning back to the cat Jiro cleared his throat and decided to try his best not to stick his foot into his mouth.

"Yes it is." He said, waiting for the cat to make the next move.

"Hn." He said derisively, starting to walk in a circle around the boy, watching his every movement judgmentally and sceptically. "How old are you?"

"Twelve."

"Is the hair natural?"

"Yes. I got it from my mother."

"How terrible. You smell like the underside of a dog. Why?"

"My father and sister summon dogs, so I'm around them a lot." This forced the cat to stop momentarily and send him a critical look.

"Well, I suppose there's something to be said for the child that can escape from the cycle of oppression and lower intelligence, and one must not push the sins of the father onto the son." He said condescendingly, starting on his path once again.

"You are a boy, correct?"

"Yes."

"I thought so, but let's just hope that that clears up after puberty." Jiro blinked in shock and looked down at himself, trying to find what needed to be cleared up.

"What?" Jiro asked, not sure how insulted he should be, "What needs clearing up?"

"Let's not worry about that just yet. Now what are your living conditions?"

"Um..." Jiro had to wonder if everyone went through this with a new summon, because he certainly didn't think they did. "I live with my parents in an apartment-"

"How many bedrooms?" The cat interrupted, further puzzling and flustering the boy.

"Three, but my sisters old room is mainly used for storage and the dogs."

"How many dogs?"

"My dad has eight and my sister has one right now."

"How terrible. And are they allowed to roam free like heathens?"

"Well, after I told them about getting a cat summon my mother barred them from coming into my room once I got you."

"Smart woman." Settling down in front of Jiro the cat regarded him with judging eyes for a moment before he spoke again.

"Though there are more setbacks than countable in furthering a relationship with you I suppose that it will only be charitable to stay, though I do have some rules that you must heed. One is that I will not play with you just because you say so in some absurdly stupid voice. I am not a fool and I am not a dog. The next is that I will not eat packaged and prepossessed food with all those ridiculous additives and disgusting crunchy bits. Canned tuna is acceptable, but if you wish to impress me I suggest you try for the real thing. And lastly I will not play nice with anyone unless I wish to, let alone dogs. I am not here to sing songs with them and pretend that life is anything less than bearable. I will not hate anyone automatically, but I will instantly judge them as idiots unless they can prove otherwise to me. Now tell me your name, boy, so we can get on with our lives."

"Ah... Jiro."

The cat sighed as if finding something wrong with even his name. "And mine is Dango. Now take me to your house." The cat ordered, waiting until the boy had turned and walked away before calling out to him.

"What? Do you think I'm just going to follow you like a worthless heel-licker? Carry me."

Jiro sighed wearily, his shoulders slumping as he turned back and lifted the cat up, starting on his way home and already able to see so many ways everything could go terribly wrong.

* * *

When they got home it was luckily to find that no one was there, so it gave plenty of time for Dango to wander around and get used to everything before they got back, and once that happened they migrated to Jiro's room where Dango took over Jiro's bed and promptly lay down for a nap until they were called for dinner.

Jiro felt like maybe he should say something to the summon about playing nice, but then he remembered the little lecture and rules from earlier and decided to just not say anything and pray that the gods would show mercy.

Walking into the dining room the pair -or the animal half of it- was met with glares from the pack of dogs huddled at one end of the room and was blatantly ignored by the masked man who buried himself into his book. The window slid open and a white head popped in with a happy greeting on her lips that quickly died when the tension in the room hit her.

No one really knew what to do as the cat leisurely made its way across the room, golden eyes landing on the old pug -obviously the leader- and inclining its head in a type of acknowledgment.

"Dog."

"Cat."

There was a beat of silence before a rustling came from Karin's pocket and a familiar ball of fluff and energy leaped out of her pocket and to the ground, jumping angrily as she yipped.

"No no no! Kitty get away from Pachi! Evil kitty is evil and bad and has to stay away from Pochiri's Pachi! If not Pochiri will-"

"No." Dango said simply and sternly, interrupting the high pitched tirade and making her stop her annoying bouncing and what she thought to be threatening growls.

"Bu-"

"No."

Wilting a bit the tiny dog turned away, the other ninken looking on in shock.

"...How'd you do that?" Pakkun finally asked, and the cat did something like a disinterested shrug.

"It's a gift, I suppose."

And as a bit of the tension left the room Jiro slumped down gratefully into his seat, hoping that it was a sign that everything would eventually work out.

* * *

Just a tiny little thing to let you know him.

I am not an animal person, mostly because I don't like things that are constantly going through my legs and trying to trip me (I do not need help with this), but my mother likes cats so we currently have a Russian blue that they named -wait for it- Bleu.

And he is a complete idiot. He runs into doors, falls off of chairs, and is lactose intolerant. But our old cat was a complete ass that would jump on you if you were in his spot, would swat your head if you sat to close to him and would wake you up in the middle of the night because the only place he could go to sleep would obviously be on your stomach.

He was a good cat. He didn't try to trip me.

I roughly based Dango off of Buddy (old cat. yeah, my parents and brothers are real inventive), and I plan to write a bit more about him later, especially after he meets Jiro's lady (hehehe.)

Jiro and Dango get pretty close, probably because Jiro just goes along with it most of the time when Dango bosses him around.

Oh, and I didn't make that connection, Hektols. That's actually pretty funny (about the only person who didn't try to seduce the Hokage being a trained seductress)

My sweet baby Ninquelot is back (hello my darling! I have missed you terribly), and I'm glad you all seem to feel that I did alright by Kiba with his presentation of his character and with Eri.

Oh! I'll be bringing you a present soon, and if you feel like there are any loose ends on any of my chapters or with any of the chapters please tell me (this has nothing to do with the present. Nope. Doo-doo-dee-doo.)

I'll see you soon, and I'll be bearing presents for all you beautiful people!


	81. Tidlybits

Hello, and these are my tidlybits.

.

.

.

Hahaha! I _love_ that word! It just sounds so wrong, and it makes every conversation so _right_ when you say it!

_Well, nice tidlybits._

_Oh, did you lose your tidlybits?_

Ha!

Now, this is a special chapter. Why, you might ask, well i'll tell you why. This is where I'm throwing all the lose ends and jiggly bits that just don't fit. Each chapter within this chapter will have a note before it briefly explaining, that way I don't just leave you hanging there. Most of these are for my Missy dearest who is constantly bugging me about the loose ends that I sometimes leave for characters that the story doesn't really center on.

Well, here we go!

* * *

X

* * *

Note: Alright, this first one is about David (or Screech) and if he found his family. This is just a little something to tie it up, and I will not be visiting again.

But before we go I would like to say one thing about their names- I apologize for the non Japanese names since I know they irk so many of you, but The first chapter David appeared in was written without the internet so I used David as a filler name and got stuck with it in my head. The way I have decided to explain it is that they are simply from different cultures and countries, like China and France (pretty different, but still on the same land mass).

Enjoy!

* * *

"Daddy! _Where are you going?"He heard a small voice cry out, the stumbling scamper of running feet chasing after him on the dirt road prompting him to stop. Turning around David sighed and then chuckled at the sight of his six year old daughter hurrying after him, still in her night gown with her black braid flowing out behind her._

_Panting when she finally reached him she braced her hands on her knees and peered up at her father through her bangs with wide brown eyes that questioned him._

"_Cecily," He groaned, putting a large, work hardened hand atop her head, "I'm just going to the market a town over to get your mother some things. Go back." He spotted his wife standing in the doorway of the kitchen, and over the distance separating them he couldn't tell if she was amused or upset._

"_I'll just come with you then. I love going to the market."_

"_No."_

"_But Daddy-"_

"_No. I don't have the money to buy you anything and it'll go faster if you stay here. I'll be back by nightfall at the latest."_

_Crossing her arms over her chest Cecily pouted, her bare toes digging into the dirt. "Mam was supposed to cut my hair today though, and you promised to tell me whether it looked good."_

"_And I'm sorry, I really wanted to be here for it." She peeked up at him hopefully._

"_Promise you come back?"_

"_Absolutely."_

"_Then I promise not to cut my hair until you get back." She stated, holding her hand out to seal the deal just like she saw her father do all the time._

_David returned the gesture and then turned the girl back to her mother, swatting her behind so that she would hurry up so that he could leave. Raising his hand in farewell he walked away, calling out behind him that he would try to be back by supper. But just a few miles from town a group rushed him, covering his face with a sweet smelling cloth that dragged him into infinite years of darkness._

"Man... those scientist people really got around. We don't even have maps for this place, and I can guarantee that we're outside of the ninja territories." One of the ninja he was traveling with -Dai- said. The woman and pale man who stood beside the boy nodded and looked around slightly uneasily. They had never been so far outside of the boundaries of their lands and it was a bit unsettling.

David breathed in deeply, absorbing the familiar smells of farmland and toil -how he had missed those smells- and turned to his escorts.

"I know the way, so you can just go on back now. It isn't that far." He said, his memory telling him that it was a rough twenty miles until he got to the farmhouse that had once been his, and then God knows how many more if he found the place empty.

After a short and weak argument the group went their separate ways, and David raced the sun to get back. He had no idea of what was waiting for him but he knew that if it was even a clue to what had once been his family and their happiness he would be momentarily satisfied.

Eighteen years was so long. So cursedly long.

Having to stop and rest ate away the night -he cursed that he was still so weak- but by mid-afternoon the next day he was walking along a familiar dirt road, the fields of healthy and golden grains swaying and waving to him, the sight of a quaint little white building forcing his weak and weary legs to go faster.

As he started up the slight hill he spotted someone hanging up laundry on a line, and he dearly hoped that it was his someone. As he got closer all he could see was the back of the person -a woman- but there was a familiarity to her and as the tune she was humming his his ears he remembered it from the times his wife had sung as she did the house work. But he knew that it was not his wife. A thick black braid that was partly twisted atop her head and then left to coil down to her mid-back hinted at a different person than his fair haired Luce.

Sensing someone the girl paused, a white sheet in hand, and she turned, smiling nicely at the stranger with brown eyes that glittered with warmth. "Hello," She said kindly, "How may I..." She slowly led off, her eyes widening as she found familiarities in the face of the man before her. Too many familiarities to be coincidental.

"Daddy?" She choked out, disbelievingly, remembering the day so long ago that they had been told of a traveling man seeing her father being carried away to never be seen again so many years ago, and David smiled nervously at her.

"Hey, Celia. I'm home."

For a moment she stood in silence as the wind swept away the sheet from her limp fingers, and all she could see were the past years that her family had lay broken. The hard work and tears they had sown into the land to keep it alive and make a living off of, the grief she swore her mother had died from after her second husband had been taken from by pneumonia, living through the grief of being alone all over again. She remembered everything, all the trials they had been through and all the good times she had been all too aware of her father missing.

But he was there, right in front of her.

And as she ran to the wounded man, sobbing brokenly into his chest, the thin white sheet danced along the wind, starting towards the small grave site and the three tombstones -two marking a body and the other not- that the reunited pair would start towards once their tears and stories were shed.

* * *

X

* * *

Now Maria's story! This one was a special urging from Missy, since it seems that my friend garnered a sympathy for the character. This isn't much, but like I said, just tying things up (ooh, bondage. Kinky).

* * *

Maria was busy putting books into their proper places on the shelves when a familiar presence came up behind her and grabbed some books off of the shelves to start helping, though she knew that he knew she needed none.

"Nori, I am the one that is supposed to be shelving today. Aren't you supposed to be at the reference desk?"

"Yeah, but no one really references anything unless it's for school and it's summer time so I'm dying of boredom over there all by my lonesome, so when I saw a beautiful damsel in distress I knew that I had to do something." He said with a valiant sweep of his arm, his blue eyes gleaming behind his square framed glasses.

Maria rolled her eyes at him and shook her head, so used to his dorky flirting that she just passed it over, knowing for a fact that he did it with all of the female patrons who came across him at the library where he had been working for about half of a year now.

Deciding to just let him help until he got bored or they got done they worked in relative silence until he finally said that was partially joking but held an underlying tone of seriousness as well.

"You know, studies have shown that women are more receptive to men wearing blue when being asked on dates, but no matter how many blue shirts I wear you never give me an answer. So I decided to wear red today and was wondering if you'd like to go by that new little miso stand during lunch break today, and maybe out to dinner some other day."

Maria snorted, thinking that this was just another one of his little flirting games, and continued to shelve the books without answering him until he took action, getting in her way and taking the books from her hands to hold above his head so that she would finally look at him.

"I really have no idea why you think I'm joking, because I'm not. I am seriously asking for you, Maria, to go on a date with me or at least just say no."

Maria blinked at him dumbly for a minute before gaping.

"You mean you're actually _serious_?" She finally asked, watching as he sat the books aside just to throw his hands up, looking towards the ceiling for guidance.

"_Yes._ On the name of my mother, _yes._"

"Ah." She managed, trying to figure out just what she should do. She had gotten used to Nori's _playful _flirting, but she had no idea what to do now that she knew he was serious. The only long term relationship she had ever been in hadn't involved flirting at all –as if Shikamaru would participate in such a _troublesome _act- and she hadn't really recognized Nori's for what it was. "This is really a bit sudden."

"No, it's really not. This has been going on for months, Maria, and I really have no idea how you've been able to ignore it for so long."

"Well, _excuse _me for just thinking that you were just playing around and flirting with me just like every other woman that steps in here."

"Most of those women are into or past their late fifties! And why on earth would I keep at it for all these months if I was just '_playing around'_?"

"Well-"

"Excuse me, but we're in a library. Please, keep it down." A passing woman hissed at them, making the pair realize that they had basically been shouting at each other in the middle of work. Quickly beginning to sort books once again so that it looked like they were actually working, the pair tried to calm down.

"Are you just trying to sleep with me because I sure that you'll have no problems-" She started, knowing for certain that while his cheery smiles and attitude wouldn't pull in the women who were looking for the '_dark, mysterious, and dangerous' _types, he was very attractive and charming.

"Yes, Maria. I have continuously tried during these past five months to get it through to you that I want to have dinner with you because I am just _that _hot for you. Really, it's a surprise I'm not attempting to ravish you right here and now with how much pent up lust I have for you." He said drolly, making her blush in embarrassment and then in mortification as she noticed that one of the elderly patrons that came around for gossip was listening avidly.

"There's really no reason-"

"Maria, I just want to eat dinner with you, or lunch. Even brunch would be fine. All you have to do is just give me a yes or a no, for the love of all that is good and covered in chocolate just give me an answer."

Blushing slightly since the elderly woman was _still _listening Maria diligently continued to shelve books, biting her lip slightly as they both working in a contemplating silence.

"We're setting up for the children's summer reading day during lunch today." She reminded him simply, watching from the corner of her eye as he stared at her steadily. "So maybe a coffee after work, or lunch tomorrow." She suggested, watching as a toothy grin spread over his face.

"I'll think about it." He teased.

* * *

X

* * *

Now this one is all I am ever (please God) going to write about the grandkids I introduce in the chapter _With Old Age_, but I took a shower and I saw them in my mind's eye, so here. If you don't want to read this you don't have to, just skip on ahead.

* * *

Clothes flew about the room in a desperate and half mad search, arcing through the air before landing on the floor in an undignified heap as they were discarded by the frantic girl in the closet whose eyes and hands were quickly raking over hangers and scavenging through drawers for something –anything- that would work. With a growl of frustration she sat down in the middle of it all, not looking at the madness as she glared at the grain of the wood floor that showed through one of the few clear spots in the room.

"I have nothing to wear." She finally muttered, getting up with a huff so that she could start cleaning everything up and put it back in its proper place, unable to stand the mess for very long and hoping to find something that she had missed.

"Yes, all of the clothes flying about the room made it abundantly clear that poor deprived you has absolutely nothing. Really, I pity you." A husky voice drawled from on the bed, earning a glare from deep blue eyes. "Tohru, just pick something to wear. It isn't like the shirt you wear will have a drastic consequence on your future."

With a huff of breath that sounded close to a strangled scream Tohru threw the skirt she had in hand at her cousin, the other girl simply plucking it from the air to let it fall down to the floor with very little effort at all.

"That's the thing, it does! You know that I've been going to night school for the past two years to take more classes just so I could get this interview. You also know as well as I do that what a person wears shows a lot about them, and today I want my outfit to say that I'm ready and that I'm professional despite my age, that way I can get into the school. That way, Cora, I can maybe become an actual accredited lawyer at nineteen. _Nineteen_, can you believe it?"

"No, and no one else will either. You won't get any cases for a long while. They don't base things purely on skill like we do." The other girl drawled, her heavily lidded eyes watching the younger girl as she nervously walked around the room and to the closet, carefully cleaning the room. "Not to mention that it will be even harder with your face. Most people don't want an innocent little doe defending them against such dangers as legal threats, and then there's the whole fact of your hair.

Grumpily Tohru pulled a clump of her long hair up so she could stare at it for a moment, pouting at the abnormal teal color. "Weird hair just _has_ to run in the family. I wish I could have gotten Hiro's, though. Maybe the gray would have added a few years to my face." Raking her eyes over her cousin she sighed. "Heck, I'd even settle for _your _hair." She said, looking at the naturally black tipped tangled tumble of white hair with jealous eyes.

"Well, you could be thankful that you at least don't have Aki's hair. As a rule now most ninjas have an almost natural fear or respect for people with pink hair thanks to Grandma, but the citizens absolutely hate it." She said, shifting slightly so that the younger girl could sit down beside her. Brown eyes studied a slightly slumping back for a moment, warming and filling with concern before once again emptying out to their usual bored and empty slates.

"Well-"

"Hey! What happened in here?" Called a brightly chipper voice as the youngest of the three Hatake girls rushed into the room, short and wild bubblegum pink curls bouncing with every overly energetic stride as she looked around the room, her blue eyes shining with a secret and teasing laughter.

"You're sister threw a fit because she can't find a shirt." Cora murmured, said sister growling as the pink haired girl threw her head back and guffawed, her delighted and loud full-out belly laughs filling the room.

"That's so _stupid!_" She said, continuing to laugh as Tohru crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the pink haired girl in what she thought to be a perfectly dignified and disinterested way.

"_No _it's _not. _I need something to wear to impress at my interview, and all I have are my ninja and regular civilian clothes. None of that will work, so I got a _little_ upset, Aki."

"A little?" Aki cried before pealing with laughter again. "That's like when you said that you were little upset when you tossed all of Hiro's pants into the lake after he accidentally burned your favorite skirt and then made him fish them out in his underwear!"

"I don't see how that situation is relevant." Tohru scoffed, her younger sister smugly pointing upwards at the cardigan that was lazily spinning on one of the blades of the ceiling fan.

"You do throw things when you get mad." Cora observed as the thoroughly embarrassed girl quickly stopped the fan to get the garment. "Let's hope you don't throw something at the judge or opposing lawyer when they dismiss or beat you in a case."

The thought sent Aki into another round of rambunctious laughter. " 'As you can see in this evidence my client is not guilty and- Ah! She just threw her brief case at me! I object!' Hahahahaha!" Aki acted out the little skit, laughing so hard that she held her sides as tears came to her eyes. "Ha! That's just great." She cried, Cora chuckling right along with her.

"Yes, well, I'm glad my failure of a future is obviously so amusing to you two. I'm never going to find anything to wear and I'll be stuck in this house without a job or hope for the rest of my life."

Aki rolled her eyes at the older girl and walked over to her own jam-packed and chaotic closet, looking the explosive mess over for a moment with a sharp eye before she shoved her way in and pulled out something. "Will this work?" She asked, holding it out for the other two girls to see.

And the answer was a resounding and unanimous "No."

It was a bright and bubbly knee length dress, the skirt a gathered and layered puffy type that was the wonder of every princess dreaming girl. It glittered and sparkled from the sequins at the top of the bodice and there was a flower made of the same gauzy material as the skirt pinned onto it.

"Why do you have _that?"_ Tohru asked, seeing no reason as to why her sister needed such a thing. She was a ninja in training, not a nitwit preteen girl going to some half-baked dance.

"I saw it in the window of a shop last week and decided that I wanted it." The girl said simply, her teal haired sister glaring at her after a moment.

"Is _that _what you used the money you borrowed from me on?" She gasped, the younger girl waving the comment away.

"What is in the past is in the past. Let's move on." She said serenely, and before Tohru could throw an angry retort at her Cora interrupted them.

"What about your mother's clothes?" She asked, sitting up to shake out her shaggily cut hair and languidly stretch out her long limbs.

Tohru thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "Have you seen our mother? She's only an inch or so shorter than me but her curves go out into places that mine just won't go. Or haven't you noticed?" She said, making a sweeping motion that encompassed her rail thin body.

"Then we'll adjust it." Cora said, shrugging. Tohru rolled her eyes as Aki eagerly ran out of their room to go to their parents'.

"And when did you become a seamstress, oh wise one? And what would my mother say if we cut up one of her outfits?"

"She wouldn't say anything. She'd simply murder us wordlessly and painfully." Cora murmured as she straightened out her sleeves without a care in the world, the cut outs that ran down the length of the arms revealing peeks of her toned muscles.

Knowing that her older cousin was simply stating what she saw to be a fact and _not_ rethinking their new strategy, Tohru sank down to her bed, sighing in defeat as Aki ran back in with a few items in her arms.

Thus began the hour long argument/fashion show that ended with Cora –the only person who hadn't even bothered with the argument, just wordlessly staring down the other two until they gave- as the victor with her choice of a simple gray dress that wasn't to her tastes but looked professional and not stuffy.

Tohru tried her hardest not to fidget as her cousin circled around her with pins in her hand and mouth, tucking and pinching everything together so that the parts that were usually filled with full curves weren't sagging and making it look likr she was wearing a shapeless sack.

Hiro was innocently passing the open doorway when he caught the sight of his eldest sister standing on a footstool in their mother's dress as their cousin intently circled her, his other sister laying on her belly on her bed and laughing occasionally as she munched on some candy she must have had hidden since if their mother would have known it wouldn't be there.

"Um…" He said, stepping in and tilting his head as he took in what they were doing to the dress. "Is this one of those weird new fashions you girls come up with every now and then that actually looks stupid but you think looks cool?"

"No." The white haired girl muttered, concentrating on her task.

"Why? Does it look bad?" Tohru asked, slightly panicked.

"Only the back, and we'll cover it up with a cardigan to hide the pins and make the whole thing look less stuffy." Cora informed her, speaking around the pins in her mouth. Hiro nodded and decided to stick around for a while, sitting down next to Aki and absentmindedly taking a handful of her candy and tossing it into his mouth.

Within the next second he was in the fetal position on the ground as he clutched his throat, gasping as tears filled his eyes and as Aki laughed loudly.

"Aki," He managed to rasp out, dark green eyes glaring up at her, "What _was_ that?"

"Ah-hahahahaha! You should have seen your face! You were all like," She clutched her throat while sticking out her tongue and twisting her face in a dramatic fashion, "And then you just fell! Ah-haha! That was great!"

Tohru sighed and shook her head, remembering how the same thing had happened to her the other night. "They're hot spiced hard candy from Suna. Apparently her pen-pal mailed them to her –and I don't know when she got one of those- and she now has a secret stash under her bed. The scary thing is that she actually likes them."

"Yep!" Aki said cheerfully, looking down at the curling head of gray hair that was still on the floor. Really, it hadn't taken her this long to get up when she had first gotten a taste of them. "They have a really nice kick to them."

"Kick is an understatement." Hiro grumbled as he pulled himself up onto the bed opposite of his pink haired sister, wanting to set himself away from the demon candy at the moment. "It's more like they sucker-punched you in the throat before putting a couple of exploding tags in your stomach."

"I know! Aren't they great?"

The room decided that it was best not to respond.

* * *

Cora is my favorite, and I always saw her as having Levy's (from Fairy Tail) messy and uneven hair, just a little longer with the hair white and the tips black, and rocking this bad ass rocker clothes and a "I don't really care unless I care" vibe. I've also seen her as having Meg's voice from the Disney Hercules (I've always loved her voice and the character) just with a hint more of a rasp.

Well, moving on.

* * *

X

* * *

And this is an idea I got for Hanabi that I figured I'd add since it can't be just a regular little chapter.

* * *

Hanabi had always been told that she was better than her older sister. She was stronger, she was braver, she was more direct and most importantly she was more _Hyuuga._ And growing up Hanabi never hesitated to agree. Her sister was _weak._ Her sister was _worthless._ She wasn't even able to hold up her dignity as a Hyuuga to defeat her -a child younger than her by six years- or a mere main branch member.

Pathetic.

And Hanabi had grown up safe and secure in the knowledge that while her sister was weak she was strong, and while her sister was a burden she was the favored daughter. She was the next head of the Hyuuga who would follow in her father's footsteps and continue to hold the clan in the same esteem that it had been for generations.

Years had passed and not much had changed. She never bothered with her sister, she never cared or wanted to, and the few times she sent her a passing glance she saw the same weak creature that had always been there, though she supposed that they could be thankful for her sister's beauty. It would make her that much easier to sell off in some marriage to strengthen the clan.

And then everything changed with the attack of Pein.

Neither she nor or father had been there and they had come home from their trip to find a crater where the majority of their village should have been and their own compound and proud clan in shambles, the world on the brink of war. They hadn't seen Hinata anywhere those first few days and while they cursed her for being so utterly useless the whispers touched their ears.

Hinata -the _weak_ child, the _worthless_ sister- had gone against one of the Peins herself without any help and had fought to give a chance to the jinchuriki, nearly sacrificing herself in the process of fighting an enemy not even the elite of Konoha could stand against.

She was _weak._

She was _worthless._

They had been told that she had been it proud and fearless.

It had been the turning point for Hanabi as she realized that someone who was worth nothing could never do something so brave, and this was enforced during the war when Hinata had stood face to face with Madara himself.

And so Hanabi had begun to watch the older girl a little closer and wonder.

She had still had that irritating stutter and could barely look a person in the eye, and it was always worsened by the blonde boy who spent an increasing amount of time with her. She spotted her during her training once and was unimpressed, seeing that the girl was only at an average level that she should have surpassed years before then.

But as she watched, she slowly saw her sister transform. The stutter was rarely heard and she held her head high, growing more confident in herself. She became a dependable person, one who held herself with grace and pride, all because of the blonde boy who was too loud and too brash for her quiet and simple sister. Hanabi hadn't expected it to last, especially since the boy was the kyuubi, but when they were threatened Hinata had sat before every one who had ever judged her harshly and told them that she would not fall in with what they wanted and that she would not leave the person she loved just because they were scared of the amazing person he was and the changes he would bring.

_She was __**weak.**_

_She was __**worthless.**_

She had been fearless.

The years had inched by and their father –the man who had always had such infallible strength in her eyes- had grown ill and weak and had admitted that he was no longer fit to lead the clan. There had been some unease over who would become the next head, and Hanabi had known why.

She had always been the favored daughter. The strong one. But Hinata had grown and she had married the _Hokage, _and there was no way that the council would easily pass such a chance to become the strongest clan –the closest to the Hokage himself- by. And as she had eavesdropped on her father and sister, her worst fears had been confirmed. She was being passed over for her older sister but not for the power hungry reasons of the council. It was because their father had believed her to be better.

_She was __**WEAK.**_

_She was __**WORTHLESS.**_

She had defeated her.

Hanabi had raced back to her room to hide from the crippling truth as it all hit her like an avalanche. She wasn't ready to be the head of the clan, she wasn't worthy of it, and she never would be. It was better for Hinata to have gotten it, it was better for her to have won their father's respect and love because she obviously wasn't enough.

And it was with these doubts swarming through her mind that she numbly listened to her father inform her that it was _her_ that would be the next head of the clan.

She had questioned her sister about it and had listened to her sister go through the stunning reasons of why she could never be head, and then had watched in shock as she had begged her to be her savior. To be the savior of the budding life that grew inside of her.

And she realized that her sister had never been weak.

Her sister had never been worthless.

There was so much strength in the steady gaze that held hers and begged her for a life that they all had only dreamed of that Hanabi had been left breathless. There was so much love and faith that Hanabi had nearly fallen to her knees and begged her to forgive her for all of the years of being wrong.

And so with the weight of those fates on her shoulders Hanabi had gathered what strength and resolve she had and had moved forward with a purpose.

There had been once when it had all gotten to be overwhelming that she had remembered her sisters assurances that she would always be there for her, and so she had went to the apartment Hinata shared with her husband and had been let in without question. She had been given an old T-shirt and shorts that no longer fit her pregnant sister and had fallen asleep on the couch, so exhausted that she slept nearly an entire day, and had awoke to a sight she had never seen nor ever expected to see.

Hinata was in the kitchen in an absurdly orange T-shirt that, while oversized, had fit snuggly around her protruding stomach. She had obviously been in the middle of making something if the batter on the counter was any clue but had stopped as her husband had come up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and placing his hands protectively and possessively on her stomach and the life she housed inside, nuzzling her neck sweetly. They had quietly murmured to each other words that she couldn't hear, but the tone and the perfectly blissful smile on her sister's face had told her all she needed to know.

Her sister was totally and irrevocably in love with the man who had wrapped himself adoringly around her and with the life that they had immersed themselves in.

And she had been heart wrenchingly jealous because she understood that she could never have that. The love. The bliss. The adoration. It had all been sacrificed so that her sister and the rest of their clan could have the chance for it.

Time passed and the inevitable happened. In the search for the merging of the two parts of the clan there was only one agreement that the council and the appointed branch members could come up with so that it could all be settled peaceably. She'd marry a member –not one of her own choice- of the branch house.

She assured her sister –whom she had gradually grown closer to- that it was fine. Hadn't their own parents been in an arranged marriage? They had been happy, and truly the only times anyone could see their father happy other than when he was with Kori was in pictures where he was beside their mother.

She had gone through the traditional ceremonies, unable to get a good look at her groom through the thick veil throughout the majority of it, though after it was lifted she was only allowed a cursory glance.

White eyes. Black hair. Clear face. Caged bird seal. Hyuuga.

It was only after it all had ended and they were locked into a room together –_their_ room- that they finally faced each other, studying one another for a few moments before the man –her _husband_- held out a hand for hers in introduction.

"Daisuke. It's nice to meet you…"

"Hanabi." She supplied, numbly placing her own hand into his for a quick shake, wishing that her life would slow down for a moment so that she could catch up.

They hadn't even known each other's names.

They stood awkwardly for a moment before Daisuke cleared his throat. "Ah… You look a little… young."

"I'm seventeen." Hanabi bluntly informed him, watching as he blinked in shock, "And you?"

"T-Twenty. _Seventeen?Really?_ Isn't that a bit too young?" He gasped out, looking around half desperately, as if the way out of the situation would just magically disappear.

"Yes. But this needed to be taken care of for the sake of the clan, and I doubt that you were completely willing for this to happen anyway." The man hesitated a moment before nodding his head.

"Yes. I am... one of the more skilled of the branch family, though not nearly as good as Neji-san, so I was chosen out of the men that were close to your age. Though it is still a bit too far apart for my liking." He looked away from her, his eyes landing on the bed -_their _bed- and he loudly swallowed, suddenly nervous. "I... I mean no disrespect, but there is someone else and-"

"Good." Hanabi said shortly, turning away from him to go to the closet and find something to sleep in, her clothes already having been put in it for her by one of the servants.

"Good?" He asked, his puzzled eyes trailing her, "What do you mean _'good'_?"

"I mean that you should stay with her. I am seventeen, and this is the first conversation I have ever had with you. I am not going to demand that you just give up the person you love just because the council wished us to be married and we went along with it. I truly don't want anything from you except maybe friendship to make this entire thing more bearable for the both of us, and I certainly don't want sex." Seeing the relieved expression on his face, Hanabi held up a hand.

"But we'll need to do it eventually. To properly join the clan and get rid of the caged bird seal we will need an heir, and for that we will need to have sex. Not now, of course, but eventually. When I'm nineteen seems to be the safest decision, considering how the council and the branch council will be pressuring us."

"Can't you just sleep with someone else?" He nearly bellowed, trying to get over the shock of how easily the small girl in front of him was handling it all.

"No. I wouldn't put it past the council to do a blood test on the child to determine its parentage, and if I am proven unfaithful they can twist it so that I can easily be gotten rid of so that someone else would become the head, completely ruining the work that I have put into this. We must also share the bed, which if you think of it like a mission and focus on the fact that neither of us have feelings for each other, it should make it easier. I know the situation is not preferred, but I must ask you to bear with it."

Daisuke blinked at the girl who seemed far older than what she said she was and nodded, sighing as he looked back towards the bed. He supposed that one of the good things about marrying the head was the humongous bed you got.

"Alright, which side do you want?"

* * *

They fell into a safe and relaxing pattern over the next year, and he quickly became her closest friend -though since they shared a bed she supposed that it was only natural that they grew close. They woke up and had breakfast delivered to the room as they talked or did some work of some kind for the clan, Daisuke eagerly and happily helping. After eating they got ready for the day and Hanabi went about her duties as head while Daisuke did what was delegated to him, also spending time with his lover Michi -a girl in the branch family- since he and Hanabi always deviously planned it so that he could do so.

They tried to have dinner with each other at least once or twice a week, and trained with one another in their private garden about the same. They always went to bed together, getting their respective sides ready and easily chatting with one another.

Hanabi had never had a true friend before since she had mainly spent her time growing up training with her father and being kept in the structured compound away from all "negative" influences that could dare to wrongly influence the next head, so she cherished Daisuke and the way he calmed her hectic life so easily. She wasn't in love with him -thank God, since that would have made things awkward- but she wanted for him to be happy, and Michi made him happy so she ignored the tiny little glares the girl shot her and urged Daisuke on.

The thing about sharing a room together, they found, was that after a little while it grew tiring to run into the bathroom or hide every time they had to change, so eventually it ended up that they just changed in front of each other, neither of them really bothering to look or be embarrassed. And so it was due to this that Hanabi had found herself topless as Daisuke flipped through a book while laying back on the bed.

"Dai-kun!" A voice singsonged from the door that led out to the garden. "I came to see if you wanted to-" They both turned as the sweet faced girl practically skipped through the door, freezing at the rather intimate sight of Hanabi changing easily in front of her lover.

The sweet face was instantly morphed into one of bitter fury as she launched herself at Daisuke, scratching and biting and hissing at him, trying to do the same to Hanabi as the other girl took control of the situation and pulled her off, easily overpowering her.

A few minutes of cursing and struggling later Michi was straightening herself and glaring at the pair, ignoring Daisuke's tries at explaining.

"I always knew he was lying about you, though I at least thought that you were too much of a cold bitch to capture his interest. And you," She hissed, turning her glare to Daisuke and silencing him, "You should get some balls, you worthless excuse of a man. The only reason I stayed with you is because of the stuff you got me, especially since all of my other guys are way better at sex than you." She said scathingly, turning with her nose high and marching out of the room.

They stood there in silence for a moment before Hanabi cleared her throat, shifting from foot to foot in an effort to figure out what to say. She'd never really been put in this sort of situation before and she certainly didn't know how to handle it.

"I'm sorry for what she said." Daisuke dejectedly murmured, and Hanabi shook it off and decided that it was about time for her to finally get around to putting her shirt on. Apparently the demon woman had had nails like talons because one of them had caught her boob and she knew that it was going to smart tomorrow.

"I've heard worse from people who undoubtedly meant more, but are you okay? I know she meant a lot to you." And for just that reason alone she wasn't going to go after the bitch and destroy her, or send anyone else to do it.

There was a beat of silence that Hanabi didn't bother to interrupt as Daisuke stared at the wall for a moment before speaking bleakly.

"Hanabi," He said, catching her attention and staring at her intently, "I want a kid."

She stared at him for a silent moment and saw it for what it was. A rebound, something that really wouldn't mean anything when they woke up the next day. Something that would only be a momentary and desperate salve for the pain. And so seeing it for what it was and seeing the needing look in his eyes Hanabi wordlessly stripped her shirt off once again and took a calming breath.

* * *

Bonding was not something she would have ever said to have done with her sister, but sitting across from her and sipping at a warm cup of tea, Hanabi had to admit that the action was... nice. The blonde toddler fidgeted on her mother's lap, huffing every now and then but otherwise she seemed content to just sit. Hinata looked over her cup every now and then in concern, but kept silence, choosing instead to let the younger girl speak first.

"... The council has accepted the new seal, and it will officially go into use once it is placed on my child." Hanabi said quietly. "There will no longer be a caged bird seal, so you no longer have to worry about Kori."

The new seal would keep anyone from gaining the secrets of their eyes upon their deaths, but it would no longer give the main house power of the branch house, and in fact everyone would have it on the back of their neck, no longer a brand but a protection and a unification.

"They just accepted it?" Hinata asked dryly, and Hanabi sent her a look over the rim of her cup.

"I didn't say that they accepted it _happily._" Hanabi informed her, shifting slightly in place and wondering if the pressure on her bladder would ever go away. Hinata laughed lightly before setting her cup down, resting a hand on the back of her now napping daughter.

"Hanabi... has anything happened with Daisuke?" Hinata asked, already having been told it all by her distraught sister who had been worried that she had ruined her friendship with the older boy.

"He's finally seemed to have gotten over Michi, and he's really thrown himself into this whole dad thing. We've talked a bit about our relationship and have decided to take things slow though."

"Slow? Right when you are about to have a child?"

"I didn't say it made sense, I just said that it was what we had decided."

* * *

Hanabi was a ninja, and while she had been more protected than the majority because of being heir, she had gotten to know pain in the few years she had been in training and on duty before she was forced to fulfill her duties. She might not have been overly familiar with it, but she could at the very least state that she knew what typical pain was.

But this, this was a completely different pain. It wasn't mind numbing and it didn't tear screams from her like she had been warned but over exaggerating females, but it hurt like a mean son of a bitch and it just went on _forever_.

Daisuke was beside her feeding her ice chips and allowing her to kindly break all of the bones in his hand, trying to crack jokes about the baby's name and gender and trying to make her laugh, though she was to busy panting and moaning to bother.

And then with a final push and a cry it was over with, a high pitched wail filling the room and shocking it to silence. And she was holding her arms out and practically crying as they settled the little bundle into her arms, telling her that it was a boy though she didn't care because it was her baby and he was perfect.

Daisuke's arm tentatively came around her as he looked down on their son with the same look of wonder she knew that she had, and they just sat there basking in the glow of the most amazing "_We did it. This is ours." _That there was.

"Hello Hotaru." Her husband and the man she very well might have been developing feelings towards said, and Hanabi repeated the sentiment and wondered just how she had gotten lucky.

* * *

The end!

Big thank you for newbies Ladybug and adiosToreador, and I would also like to tearfully thank adiosToreador for being the first person to support me on the Mino/Kaya thing.

Thank you. You are beautiful.

Well, see you later!


	82. There is No Fun in Pranks and War

Hello, hello, my deary dears! This one is for my little sweety TheCookieMonster77, who very innocently asked a month ago;

**"...just out of curiosity, are any of Naruto's kids pranksters?"**

And after thinking about it I kind of decided that, nah, not really. But then the temptation to deny me my own decisions once more was too great and Kathy locked me up in a closet to poke me with pointy sticks and taunt me with cinnamon rolls until I broke.

Evil, evil muse.

It was just an idea that I liked, but I wasn't focused on writing like a great deal of the things that are still in my head. But this was only until I visited this sweety's profile (something I do for all of my lovely darlings) and I saw that he had recomended a story for others to read. My story.

So after squealing like a girl and resolving to write this chapter no matter what, I now have it.

So here you go, you sweet little darling you.

* * *

Years later, the event would still be remembered with a great deal of amusement and not a little bit of trepidation. The story would be told nostalgically in an attempt to embarrass in front of boyfriends and girlfriends, and later would be told in remembrance of the years where they acted much as their own children were.

How it was started and by who was a much disputed thing, the blame being shifted frequently and the actions being exaggerated to almost epic proportions. But one thing remained constant no matter who told it; it had been a violent, take no prisoners, hold nothing back, do or die blood bath that people found themselves lucky to come out of unscathed.

It had been war.

* * *

The academy was on it's spring break, and being free of the learning and dull daily structure of the school was liberation for many of the children. But for Leo, it was just kind of... Meh. All of his friends were busy doing family stuff, his family was off doing Hokage and mission stuff, and he was just stuck laying on a branch up in a tree, flicking and spinning a kunai idly through the air before catching it again in the same repetitive arc that he was already tired of.

He waited for an idea to come to him of what to do, and it came in the form of his older sister talking uncharacteristically shyly to a boy she was walking next to.

Rolling on his side he watched the pair for a moment before a purely wicked grin split his face and he quickly dashed off, unnoticed by the two as the went about their hazy puppy love filled world.

Working quickly so not to allow the devious chance to escape him Leo soon found himself waiting in a high branch in a tree for the perfect moment, and right when the flirting pair stepped to a particular spot underneath a particular overhang Leo tossed his kunai at a branch where a large bucket had been situated perfectly rested on. The bucket upended and it fell to the earth in a perfect and almost poetic arch, the murky pond water that filled it spilling on his poor and unsuspecting sister and dowsing her completely.

The entire forest was silent but for the thudding of the bucket's impact and the sound of Yuka's gasps as she held out her arms as they dripped, her hair sticking together in front of her wide and shocked eyes, her mouth open in a silent cry as she stared wide eyed down at herself and the clothes that were now sticking to her.

Then laughter tore the silence apart, the loud and almost hysterical sound echoing through the trees as Yuka's eyes jerked up to the spot where her younger brother leaned against the trunk of the tree for support, wiping his eyes free of tears.

Yuka gaped like a fish -a sopping wet, dripping fish- for a moment before the boy beside her -Sho, her crush that she knew she didn't have a _chance _with now- pointed to her top of her head.

"Ah... you got a little something... right there." He said, and Yuka quickly flung her hand up to pull a stingy and gunky strip of pond scum out of her hair.

The laughter got louder as Yuka squeaked in disgust and quickly dropped it, and the more hysterical the the boy got the higher the flames in her eyes burned.

"UZUMAKI LEO, I'M GONNA' KILL YOU!" She shrieked making everything within a two mile radius jump in fright, and with a final snigger her bright haired brother disappeared.

* * *

"... And then I had to pull this green goop out of my hair and it was horrible!" Yuka sobbed into the shoulder of her twin. "It was really going good with Sho before that, you know? And then afterward he couldn't even _look_ at me without laughing, and when I asked him about the dance next Saturday -which he already asked me to- he said that he just remembered that he had to do something." Sniffling, she tried not to remember how horrifyingly embarrassing it all had been. Her one chance at getting together with her longtime crush and it was completely ruined by her stupid little brother.

Yuki shushed her and rubbed her back soothingly. "I'm sorry. I know that you liked him."

"I really _really _liked him." Yuka muttered, and her sister nodded.

"And I know it hurts, but maybe there's something we can do that can help." Yuka moved back and tilted her head as she looked up at her sister with a hint of hope in her tear swollen eyes.

"Like what?" She asked, sitting silently as she listened to her sister's plan, a delighted and almost cruel smile growing on her face as the her sister told her the plan.

"You know, I thought you were the sweet one." She teased, and Yuki merely smiled.

"Not when you're unhappy, I'm not." She said, and the pair quickly got to work.

Since Leo wasn't home yet -trying to avoid his sister's wrath until it had calmed down a bit- they easily stole every article of clothing from their brother's room and took it down to the laundry room with the bottles of dye they had just purchased. With a load spinning in the dryer and one more in the washer the two girls quickly threw out the evidence of their involvement and shared a celebratory high five.

They passed their mother on their way out of the room and Hinata tilted her head in puzzlement at the sound of the washer and dryer working together.

"Who's doing laundry?" She asked them, and they both shrugged.

"Leo. He got them dirty messing around today." Yuki said as Yuka scowled.

"Yeah, there was something about pond water." She muttered, and Hinata nodded her head in understanding. None of her children had ever really been all that gentle with their clothes.

About ten minutes later as the twins were up in their room smugly celebrating their victory Kori popped in through the kitchen door, a cloth hamper in her hand.

"Mom, the machines in my building broke and the last time I took clothes to the laundry in town they banned me because they said there was too much blood on them." She whined, and Hinata smiled softly at her.

"Leo just threw his in the wash, so if you get them in there really quickly I think you'll be fine." She said, and Kori nearly fell to her knees in thanks as she rushed to the laundry room and upended her sack of dirty clothes into the machine without really paying any attention to the strange color the water was, more focused on asking her mother if she could mooch lunch off of her because she was _starving _and she had forgotten to go grocery shopping earlier.

When the laundry finished half an hour later Kori pulled out the first shirt and was shocked at the sheer... neon greenness of it. She didn't own anything in that color, and she knew that Leo would never go for anything so bright, and she was even more puzzled to find that _all _of the clothes int the washer were that color.

"Leo!" She called out, knowing that the boy had been trying to sneak a snack in the kitchen, "What did you do to the laundry?"

"What do you mean?" He said around a bite of an apple as he came into the room.

"I mean, why are all the clothes in the washing machine green?"

"I dunno'."

"What do you mean you don't know? These are your clothes."

The look on his face would have had Yuka on her knees in thankful tears as he dropped his apple and dashed to the machine, looking inside of it in shock and horror. He could see his favorite T-shit, his underwear even his newest jacket, and all of it was a horrendously bright _green_.

"There was something in the dryer too." Kori muttered, realizing from the look on her brother's face that he didn't know anything about what was going on, a fact that was further proven when the boy opened the door to the dryer and pulled out a hot pink pair of jeans and looked like he was about ready to cry.

"Who did this?" Kori muttered, pulling out her favorite _blue_ sleep shirt and finding that ti had changed to a murky sort of greenish color. The question snapped Leo out of his daze and his eyes hardened into anger.

"Yuka." He hissed, and Kori couldn't see her sister coming up with it on her own. When one twin was thought to be acting particularly devious you could be sure that it was a joint effort because they would never let the other go down alone.

"Yuki too." Kori muttered, and the two glanced at each other and understood perfectly that they would need something _serious_ to get back at the girls.

* * *

Walking down the side walk on their way to glance around the bookstore, the glow of victory still held close, the first hint the girls got as to how wrong everything was about to turn was the way people were staring and laughing, pointing at something they couldn't yet see. The second hint they had -and the hint that made them aware that they were involved- was how people would point at the unseen thing and laugh before pointing at them and laughing even harder.

Looking up at what it could be, the girls froze in horror at the sight of two familiar bras and two familiar pairs of panties hanging from a wire strung between two buildings, a sign above it proclaiming in bold red letters that; SHOULD THESE BE FOUND THEY SHOULD BE RETURNED TO UZUMAKI YUKI AND UZUMAKI YUKA.

They stood there for a moment as they stared at the familiar scrawl of their redheaded brother, shocked out of their horrified daze by the snigger of one of their classmates. "So... do the teddy bears belong to you Yuka, or Yuki?"

Yuka released a strangled scream when the whole situation suddenly hit her, and she quickly threw a fire jutsu at the offending sight, setting the underwear ant the wire that held them up on fire.

A low whistle sounded next to them and they turned to see there brother wearing a pair of jeans that had been worn a day too long and a pink hoodie, a smirking and superior grin on his face.

"Well," He said as he stared up at the sight of the burning underwear, "That was amusing."

Yuka screamed and launched herself at the boy, gripping his hoodie and dragging him up to his toes. "You are _dead_, do you understand me? It wont be easy, it wont be quick, it'll be painful and violent and bloody." She hissed, and Leo didn't even bother to struggle, just smirking up at his sister as if he still held the upper hand.

"Oh?"

"_Yes._ This, Uzumaki Leo," She said, dropping him back to his feet and giving him a little shove paired with an acidic glare, "Means _war_."

The twins turned and hurried away with their fury fueling their steps, and Yuki clenched her fists, sure that she had never been so mad before.

"He didn't do it alone. You know he wouldn't have went through our underwear drawer."

"Well then who-" They both stopped when they spotted Kori wearing a absurdly green top that they remembered being white the last time they saw it, shooting them a glare before walking by. The two girls shared a glance before sighing.

"Well, shit." Yuka groaned.

"Yuka!" Yuki reflexively reprimanded.

"Well, it goes with the situation! Now we're going against Kori _and_ Leo, and that's twice the trouble."

"Yes," Yuki murmured, thinking the whole thing over before coming to a decision with a somewhat sweetly evil smile. "But it can also mean more trouble for _them_ if we play this right."

Yuka stopped, unsure of what she was getting at, and crossed her arms over her chest as she tried to figure it out. "...What do you mean?"

"I mean that out of the four of us _we _are the ones who know the most about war from the scrolls we've read and our studies, so why don't we use that? Knowledge has always been our greatest weapon, so we'll use it against them."

Yuka thought it over for a moment before smirking and nodding. "Right. Well, Sir General, what's the plan?"

* * *

Kori was tired. She had just gotten back from an overnight mission where Mio had helped her lament the destruction of her wardrobe and all she wanted was a warm shower to get the rest of the tomato juice out of her hair -just how stupid did you have to be to throw tomato juice at ninja when you were trying to escape? All it was was annoying- and then sleep in her newly colored pajamas.

Letting her hair down she quickly jumped in the shower, singing off key to a song she had heard on the radio earlier as she began to shampoo her hair. Twenty minutes later she was stepping out, still humming, and wrapped a thin towel around her chest, rubbing her hair roughly with another.

She wasn't really bothering to pay attention but it was hard to miss the way her happy yellow towels had suddenly become stained with a disgusting black color. Blinking she quickly rushed to the mirror and screamed at what she saw.

* * *

Across the village and nestled in their happy little house, Yuki and Yuka were blissfully smiling as they ate their breakfast. Leo came in and glared at them, waiting to see hat kind of revenge would be enacted on him but he was merely ignored so he cautiously went about getting his cereal ready, eying the twins as he did so that he could catch them even if they breathed suspiciously.

Setting down cautiously, none of them noticed the ever silent Mino walk in and get his own bowl until he was sitting at the table and reaching for the sugar bowl before Leo could catch it.

Mere moments after Mino put a spoonful of his favorite morning cereal in his mouth he was spitting it right back out, his face contorting in disgust as he tried to control the urge to throw up.

"...Salt?" He muttered, puzzled and sickened, and Leo was immediately reaching for the sugar bowl and finding it not filled with sugar but with salt.

He smirked at the other girls, just moments away from haughtily laughing in victory. "Well now, it looks like this little plan of yours didn't work, did it? _I _didn't eat the salt! You should really work on something better." He said, moving to get up but finding himself unable to.

The girls laughed as Leo's face changed from his holier-than-thou smirk to one of puzzlement.

"Oh, Leo-kun," Yuka cooed, "Did you really think that that was all we were going to do?"

"We put a seal on your chair." Yuki said before he could ask, "You'll be trapped there for the next three hours..."

"... Unless you break the chair, which you know how mom will react to that, especially when added to the whole pond water and underwear facts." Yuka added finally, an almost cruel grin growing on her face.

"I aughta'-" He growled, interrupted by the door being thrown open so hard that it banged against the door and left a dent.

"Yuki." Kori hissed, her white eyes glowing in a way that the three younger siblings weren't all that comfortable with, "Yuka."

The girls swallowed nervously, unsure of what to do about the pure violence of the elder girl's aura or the lopsided beanie that she had stuffed her hair into. They knew what that meant since they had been to ones to play this particular prank.

"What the hell," The older girl hissed, "Is THIS?!" She jerked the beanie off of her head to show them her hair, and everyone had to stop themselves from gasping.

Her usual blonde hair was still the same shining yellow, but it was liberally splotched and streaked with a dingy tint of black that stained her scalp and a bit of her forehead as well.

"Kori-"

"What? What on _earth_ could be your reasoning for this?" She cried, her eyes filling with tears and making the twins feel a twinge of guilt. But then they remembered their burning training bras, and the guilt magically disappeared like a magician had waved his wand over it.

"Well, if you hadn't hung our underwear up in the middle of the-"

"YOU started that! All I wanted to do was wash my clothes, and you made them green! And now my hair is... _this_ and you... you..." She took a breath, calming herself so that she could glare at the pair. "I am _not _going to forgive this."She finally threatened.

And none of them noticed the youngest of them slipping out of the room.

* * *

It dragged on dangerously, the acts ranging from tiny affronts like sealing the windows and doors shut with traps so that they couldn't get into their rooms to much larger offenses like when the twins found all of their furniture up in the trees outside the house (this compliments of Kori with the help of Mio and Sora).

When all of the twins' pens were super-glued shut only to explode all over their hands when prompted open the girls retaliated by putting sand in Leo's bed, and when Kori found that her legwarmers -a present from Lee-sensei that she never wore but dearly cherished- had been turned into puppets seemingly by Leo -a beautiful sabotage of their alliance by the twins- she immediately hit back full force by painting his nails with a permanent marker while he slept and drawing mustaches on his kunai.

It wasn't pretty and it wasn't quiet, but amazingly their parents didn't notice since Naruto was holed up in the Hokage's office with an extraordinary amount of paperwork because of the annual peace meetings between the shinobi nations that would be coming up, and Hinata was helping out Hanabi since it seemed that Hotaru had caught an especially bad cold and wasn't handling it very well.

On the last day of break they woke up to find a platter of cookies sitting on the table and -thinking that they were an apology from their mother for not being there the whole week- they happily ate them.

And hour later the four were in their beds, holding their stomachs and throwing up into trashcans as they moaned for God to just hurry up and kill them. When Hinata found them she quickly called Sakura and the pink haired medic told her that they had been poisoned -not dangerously so, though- and they were all quick to point fingers at their siblings.

And so, poison out of their systems but still pale and a little queasy, the children found themselves standing before the judging eyes of their parents, their father sitting behind his desk in his Hokage robes and Hinata standing steadily at his side.

Wincing under their father's gaze, they understood that their little war was now over and that now they were in serious trouble.

Their parents studied them for several heavy moments, noting how sickly the first four looked and that Leo had apparently decided to defy all laws of fashion what with his purple nails with pink jeans and a green shirt, the outfit clashing horribly with his hair. Kori's hair was a terrible collage of black and blonde and the twins' hands were stained with blue and black and red. Mino was the only one that had come out unscathed, and he stood perfectly at the end of their little interrogation line.

"Would you care to tell us why you think that you poisoned one another?" Hinata asked, breaking the silence first, a very bad sign.

Immediately the four oldest started in on their own explanations at the same time, creating a chaotic babble of words that their parents were having a hard time keeping up with.

"So..." Hinata started, her forehead knit in concentration as she processed all of the new information. "You hung your sister's underwear up in the middle of town?" She asked her eldest daughter and son, the eldest who looked away guiltily and the other quickly defending himself.

"We wouldn't have if they hadn't dyed our clothes pink and green!" He said, which made said girls glare at him because of the serious lack of information he had given.

"But first Leo dumped dirty pond water all over me!"

"And Kori was a complete accident." Yuki added, said blonde leaning forward a bit so she could glare at them from around Leo in their spots in line.

"Yeah, well you dying my hair black wasn't an accident."

"We _told _you," Yuka moaned, "That it turned out so badly and won't come off isn't our fault. It must have had some kind of reaction to the tomato juice that was in your hair."

"So?"

"_'So?' _So, it's you're own fault for deciding to bathe in tomatoes! And anyway, we could have tried to find a solution to get it out, but then you went and put out beds in the forest and ruined out pens and our hands." Yuka hissed.

"The pens weren't me, that was Leo."

"Hey!"

"What? That's what you get for making some kind of crack puppet out of Lee-sensei's present!"

"What? I didn't touch anything from that crazy psycho! And you're the one who drew all over my kunai!" Leo defended, and ignoring his last -truthful- accusation, Kori was quick to figure who had defiled her beloved present.

"You two." She hissed. "How dare you?! First you destroy my hair and them my legwarmers, and then you go and poison us all!"

"Hey now, we're not the ones who poisoned the cookies! That was Leo!"

"Nuh-uh! I don't even know how to turn on the oven, let alone bake cookies!"

"Oh, so it had to be us because we're girls and we're supposed to know how to bake?" Yuka shrieked at the boy, and he stomped up to her and poked her in the chest, yelling in her face.

"No, it's because you're _crazy!_" He bellowed, and Yuka was drawing in the breath to make a very loud and extremely angry reply when a quiet voice interrupted them.

"It was me."

Shocked, the whole room turned to gape at the youngest child, the one thought to be the best behaved.

"You...?" Yuki managed, trying to grasp the concept of their brother actually _poisoning _them.

"Mino, why did you poison your brother and sisters?" Hinata managed, just as perplexed as everyone else. This was her baby, the sweet one with the rare sweet smiles and the even rarer words.

"They put salt in my cereal and it made me mad, so I punished them. It only made them sick, though. It wouldn't have killed them." Mino said simply, and they all blinked in shock.

"It was an accident!" Yuka immediately defended, and the boy barely spared her a glance.

"Mino-kun, you can't just... _poison_ your siblings because they upset you." Hinata managed, and the boy nodded. "And I also don't want you using the oven again without supervision." Another nod.

"Well..."Naruto strangled out, "Part of this is our fault for not noticing, I guess, but only a tiny part. Really tiny. The rest is going on you because this got _way _out of hand, so we're going to have to ground all of you."

"I just moved out! You can't just ground me!" Kori protested her, and Hinata silenced her with one of her looks.

"We are your parents, which doesn't change when you move out of our house. The fact that you are still a child and that you _need _to be punished was very well proven by how you had a hand in this entire thing." She said quietly, the girl's bravado wilting. "No go out and wait so that we can discuss just how severe we need to be."

The group dejectedly shuffled out, and Naruto shouted after them that Eri shouldn't give them any snacks. A silent moment passed after the door had closed when Hinata sighed.

"Go ahead, Naruto."

The room was suddenly filled with loud and uncontrollable laughter, the silencing jutsu placed on the door keeping the sound from carrying out and alerting the children that their parents weren't really all that upset.

"They... And she... He... Ha!... Did you see her hair?!" He managed, practically falling out of his chair from the force of his laughter, and Hinata chuckled in answer.

She was angry, there was no doubt of that, but the situation also gave her a sweet sense of nostalgia for the devious prankster her husband had been when she had first started admiring him and was even still, though it was a bit more controlled. She was certainly surprised that all of their children, even her sweet little Mino, had gotten Naruto's prankster gene.

"We _do _have to punish them. We're lucky that nobody was caught in the cross fire." Hinata said, and Naruto nodded as he wiped at his eyes.

"Yeah, I know. Some of that stuff was pretty good, though. Wish I would have thought of the hair and clothes dye when I was younger. It would have been _hilarious _to see peoples' faces when I did that." He cackled again, and Hinata smiled and shook her head fondly at the man.

* * *

I would just like to say that this, just like all of the other chapters that Kathy rather violently takes over, got away from me.

I would like to say that I fixed the spelling mistake last chapter with Madara's name (a thank you to my newbie Sumiku Agaishi) and I also filled in a couple blips in the story line that I probably should have notice earlier. No more writing and posting when I'm half asleep any more (though that does seem to be when Kathy likes to come out best).

I got a new laptop for college! It's beautiful and sexy and I named it Rodajio (Roh-dah-gee-oh), just because I could.

Will I be back?

You bet your sexy little flip-flops that I will be.


	83. Black Lullaby, NejiTen

Hello my sweeties! Here's another one, from me to you, special.

* * *

Tenten and Neji had never really thought of themselves as the parenting types before they had Rin but with her birth they found something so purely incredible and beautiful and cherished, and they loved her more than they ever thought possible. She was a treasure modge-podged together from the very best pieces of the both of them, and they had never felt anything more wonderful that the sheer unconditional and untainted love that the bond of parent and child came with.

So when Tenten found herself pregnant again they were ecstatic to say the least.

They brought out what baby things of Rin's that they hadn't thrown away and began to decorate the Rin's nursery to fit two. Before the first trimester was over they were thinking of names and telling their friends, the sheer wonder of the moment overtaking them.

But then, in a wash of blood and tears, all of that happiness was gone.

There was sympathy of course, but it left a bitter taste in Tenten mouth because she could also feel the pity that they gave, and it only riled the growing self-hatred. The skeleton of a crib sat tauntingly bare, and walking into Rin's nursery became almost unbearable for her because she could see how only weeks ago -days really- she had been preparing it for something that would never come.

Depression was an easy word for what she felt and as she curled up on the bed in a ball of self-loathing and pain all she was thinking that there must have been some way that she could have saved her baby.

After a week of leaving her alone in the darkness of their room Neji knew that enough was enough, and opened the door with a purpose.

"Tenten," He said in his most commanding voice, a voice that made strong men quiver before doing as he bid, "Get up."

The seconds of silence dragged slowly by before she finally answered, her voice cracking and dry. "No."

"Tenten." He tried again, "Get. Up."

"No."

Biting off an angry curse Neji walked to her side of the bed and grabbed her arms to start physically pulling her out of the bed, but after a few moments of wrestling he was shoved back so that he hit the wall with a hard thud. He didn't care though, because Tenten was finally sitting up with something other than heartbreak in her eyes. The pain was still there, but he didn't think he'd ever been so happy to see her pissed off before.

"Just leave me alone!" She cried hoarsely, her long hair falling in an unkempt tangle around her like a dark veil. "Just... Go away!"

"You need to stop being so selfish." Neji bit out, making Tenten blink in shock. "Do you think that you're the only one in this marriage that is completely crushed by this? It was my child too, Tenten, but what you need to focus on right now is the fact that _I_ am here. _Our daughter,_ is here. You are not alone, so stop acting like it and for the love of God just get up out of bed."

Tenten blinked at him for a moment before slow tears silently tracked down her face, and the sight of his strong and proud wife breaking apart like she was nearly broke him too.

"I... What if it was my fault?" She managed to choke out. "Maybe I should have stopped training or ate better foods or..." She stopped when Neji's arms went around her and easily found herself leaning into his strength.

"You trained with Rin, Tenten, and you know that the fact you ate something other than salads and fruits wasn't the deciding factor. We had no control over it, Tenten. It just happened." He paused for a moment to pet her slightly greasy hair. "We could try again, if you wanted to."

"...No." She said slowly. "No I... Rin is..." She said, and then almost as if the idea hadn't occurred to her before she jerked back to look at him.

"Rin, is she...?"

"She's in her crib right now." Neji said. Tenten nodded and pulled back from him.

"Right. I... I need to get into the shower since I haven't taken one all week. I probably smell terrible." She muttered to herself, but Neji waved her worries away with a slight smirk.

"You've smelled worse." He said, and there was no reason to get upset since she knew that it was true. They'd been with each other through their personal worsts and bests. A little thing like smell was nothing compared to what they had been through together before.

This, this devastating feeling of loss was not going to be the thing that broke them.

The shower was quick since there was no reason for it not to be, and she knew that there would still be a bit more time before Neji came back from the kitchen where he was making her some tea so she simply sat on the bed to wait, but when the baby monitor crackled and she heard the familiar cry she couldn't have stopped herself from hurrying to her daughter's room if she had wanted to.

As soon as she stepped into the room her eyes went to where Rin was, the small girl holding onto the side of the crib with a strong grip to keep herself from falling, her hair messy from sleep and her white eyes wide with tears as her bottom lip trembled pitifully. As soon as she saw the familiar sight of her mother the girl released her hold and plopped down onto her padded bottom, holding her arms out to the woman.

And without hesitation Tenten walked forward and scooped her daughter into her arms.

Neji was headed back to the room with steaming cup of tea in hand when he peeked into Rin's room as he habitually did, and he couldn't help but smile thankfully at the sight he saw.

Tenten held their daughter tightly in her arms, her cheek pressed against the baby's head as a single tear ran down it, swaying slightly in a soothing motion as she whispered again and again how much she loved her. How much she meant to her.

And Neji knew that they would be alright.

* * *

Just a tiny little something and an idea that I got about why Rin is so spoiled and why they stopped at only her.

A big happy birthday to my Missy dearest, and a happy un-birthday to you! (unless this is your birthday. If that it the case, congrats.)


	84. From Konoha With Love, NaruHina

Hello my dearests! Sorry this took so long, but I have about five more right after this (All at once! Wooh!). I was going to release them all in one chapter, but then I figured "Nah."

Oh, and the next couple ones are going to Valentine's Day Fics like this one (Yes, well, who doesn't want Valentine's day on Easter?), and they were requested by BeInfinitexx who said that;

**"You should do a story based on everyone's Valentines day"**

and my sweet darling probably wanted them actually on Valentine's Day, but hey, I'm a rebel. I do what I want.

So here we go!

* * *

Naruto was as happy as he had ever been. He was finally being respected by the majority of the village that had once upon a time shunned him, he had finally gotten a better ranking (he hadn't even had to take the exam again since everyone had agreed he had more than proven himself in the war), and he was dating one of the most beautiful girls in all of Konoha.

No.

_The _most beautiful girl in all of _the_ _world_.

So he was happy and he knew that there was absolutely nothing that could ruin it.

"Naruto!" Stopping, he grinned at the sight of his pink haired best friend running to him, on break from her work in her hospital if her uniform was anything to go by.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said happily, "Want to come with me to Ichiraku's?" Sakura sighed but saw that there wasn't any way for her to get him to not go, and she wanted to spend some time with him since there really hadn't been chances for her to do so recently.

"Really Naruto." She scolded even as she fell into step with him, "I hope you're taking Hinata out somewhere other than for ramen tomorrow."

Naruto blinked at her, puzzled, and sat down at a stool at the counter as he tried to remember if he and Hinata had a date set for the next day and if he had forgotten about it. It would have to be an important one too, if Sakura was specifically singling it out.

"Um... Sakura," He said after a few minutes of intense thinking, "I don't have a date with Hinata tomorrow."

Sakura blinked at him for a moment to try and figure out if he was joking or not, but when she saw that he was completely serious she gaped at him.

"Naruto," She managed past her shock, "Tomorrow is Valentine's day."

Naruto blinked at her. And then he blinked again. One more blink and then-

"WHAT?"

"You idiot!" Sakura yelled, hitting him, "How could you forget about _Valentine's_ day? What do you think all of these pink heart decorations are for?" She asked, motioning around at the paper decorations Ayame had hung on the walls.

"I..." He looked around, shocked, not even sure that he had noticed the decorations before. "I don't know."

"Well, I can promise you that Hinata hasn't forgotten. I saw her looking for presents the other day." She declared as their meal was sat in front of them.

She started to eat but stopped after a few minutes when she realized that she couldn't hear the sound of Naruto's more than enthusiastic eating. Turning her head she saw that he was just staring at the bowl intently, his face scrunched up as he thought, and just as she was about to ask him what was wrong he jumped up, making his stool fall and forcing Sakura to grip the counter with a grip that cracked the wood so that she wouldn't fall.

"I've got to go!" Naruto declared, racing out of the restaurant before anyone could say anything.

Sakura and Ayame looked at each other before glancing down at the untouched bowl that sat at his spot, shocked.

"That's never happened before." The older girl managed before coming around to put the stool back to rights and take Naruto's bowl back to keep it warm since she figured that their most faithful customer would surely be back soon.

Sakura stared at the door for a few more minutes before a smile grew on her face. Naruto had left his ramen willingly -an event no one had thought would ever happen- and he had done it just for a certain white eyed girl.

She wondered at just how red Hinata would blush when she told her.

* * *

Naruto was sitting on top of the roof of some random building as he tried to figure out what the best thing would be to get Hinata for Valentine's Day, staring intently down at the market.

There were flowers, but he wasn't sure what her favorite was, and what if he was allergic to the ones he got her? And chocolate? He'd never seen her eat any, so what if she didn't like them? He didn't want to get her jewelry for pretty much the same reason, clothes were a no -especially since they would probably end up hidden beneath her jacket- and it wasn't like he knew much about the perfumes and stuff.

So what could he get her?

It wasn't like money was a problem since he'd had nothing to spend it on before and had only saved it, but how could people just decide on what to give? There were too many things that she could have wanted, but nothing that he _knew _she wanted. She never went to the windows of shops to gasp over the sparkly things and she didn't look through catalog and show him pictures of things she liked -both of which he was used to whenever Sakura wanted something.

She always just seemed happy to be with him and it was as if she really wanted nothing else.

Groaning, Naruto hung his head and wondered how he'd _ever _figure this out, and then he saw it, and he knew that it was absolutely perfect for her.

He jumped of of the building and right in front of the civilian couple, making them fall back and scream in shock.

"Hey," He said, pointing, "Where'd you get that?"

They both stared at him for a moment, gaping, before the boy began to sputter in shock and the girl looked up to try and see just _where_ the obviously deranged blonde boy had fallen from.

* * *

Hinata walked dejectedly away from Naruto's apartment, sighing as she tried to figure out just where he was. It was Valentine's Day, the first one they would have as a couple, and she had _really _been hoping to spend it together with him. A part of her wanted to do something really special but she knew that it was more probable that they would just end up at Ichiraku's like always, and she supposed that it would all be fine so long as they got to spend the day together.

Slumping on a bench, Hinata fingered the happily wrapped box in her hand and figured that Naruto must have just forgotten about the day and that it would be best to just go home. But just as she had stood up strong arms wrapped around her from behind in a tight hug, lifting her up a few inches off of the ground.

"N-Naruto-kun!" She gasped as she blushed furiously, knowing instinctively who it was.

"Hey! I finally found you! Where've you been?" He asked as he sat her down, his words coming out in a nervous jumble.

"Ah, y-your apartment. I was l-looking for you." She said, hiding his present behind her back as she turned to face him, just as nervous.

After a few awkward moments of a conversation neither of them were paying any attention to Hinata finally held out her present to him, looking away and blushing as she stared intently down at the cracked concrete of the sidewalk.

"Ano, N-Naruto-kun, h-happy Valentine's D-Day." She managed, peeking through her bangs as Naruto eagerly ripped the wrapping paper off of the small box.

Pulling off the lid Naruto looked down at the thumbnail sized orb of swirling red and yellow and orange that was lightly speckled with purple and hung off of a simple black cord, and then he looked back up at Hinata.

"I-I remembered that y-your other necklace w-was destroyed s-so when I saw this and thought of you I-I..." Hinata led off, nervously playing with her fingers as she waited for him to tell her that he didn't like it. After all, what _boy_ got a necklace on Valentine's Day?

"Hey, thanks!" Naruto said happily, slipping the cord over his head.

"Y-You like it?" Hinata asked hopefully, and Naruto grinned at her.

"Of course I like it. You gave it to me, didn't you?" Hinata smiled softly and nodded. "And hey, this is probably even better than my old one!" He assured her, completely ignoring the fact that his old necklace was worth more than two dozen men could make in their life times and that it had once belonged to the first Hokage. This necklace was from Hinata, and not only that it was his first present from her, which made it pretty much better than anything at that point.

"Ah! Here," Naruto said, picking up a shopping bag from where he had first sat it down to greet Hinata, "This is your present."

"Sorry I couldn't wrap it all fancy like you did for mine, but I don't really know how, and the place where I got it from had just finished with it so I wouldn't have had time even if I knew how to wrap presents." Naruto rambled a bit nervously as Hinata pulled the long velvet case out of the bag and untied the ribbon that kept it shut.

Taking a breath Hinata opened the case and gasped in shock, her white eyes growing wide. She hadn't known what it would be from the plain black bag or the case since it was too big to be jewelry, but this... she certainly hadn't expected this.

There was a pair of delicate hair combs with milky pearls inlaid in it, a long handled and thickly bristled brush with a swirling design centered around a singular pearl engraved onto the back, and a set of hair sticks with a pearl at the very end, all of it in what seemed to be silver.

It was breathtakingly beautiful and elegant and not something she would have ever expected Naruto to pick out, and even if every bit of it were fake it still looked like it cost a lot of money.

"N-Naruto..." Hinata started, and Naruto fidgeted in place a bit, wondering if and how he had messed up. "This... I-It's beautiful."

Naruto grinned, all hints of nervousness gone as he basked in his accomplishment. "That's great! You see, I saw this girl and she had one of those comby things in her hair and I thought that something like that would look great in _your _hair, so I went to the guy's shop and saw all of that other stuff and these, well they reminded me of your eyes so I knew I had to get them. And apparently you can put back your hair with the stick things, so you can use them during training that way you don't have to spend all that time untangling it and getting sticks and stuff out of it."

Hinata knew that she would _never _risk damaging them in training, but seeing the slightly hopeful look in his eyes Hinata pulled the front parts of her hair back and held then in place at the back of her head with a comb.

"Th-Thank you, N-Naruto-kun. I-It's beautiful." She said quietly, a blush growing on her face at just how big and happy his smile was.

"Yeah! The guy who ran the shop said that they were something like white gold, though I never knew that gold came in different colors, and that I was lucky to get them since they were the set he used to show every one his work and he usually took weeks, sometimes months to make them." Naruto said as they started to walk, not noticing when Hinata stopped to gape at him and stare at the case in her hands with wide and horrified eyes.

_White gold?_ That meant that the pearls were probably real too, and if the man had been reluctant to sell them, especially with how long other people waited, that... that added up to _a lot _of money. More than she could imagine at the moment, and all of it spent on her.

Finally noticing that Hinata had lagged behind Naruto hurried back, wondering if anything was wrong, and judging by how pale she was and how big her eyes were he could guess that there was something bothering her.

"Hinata? Is everything okay?"

"N-Naruto," Hinata gasped, "J-Just how much did you spend on these?"

"Um..." Naruto thought about it for a moment before shrugging it off. "I don't know. Does it matter?"

"Yes!" Hinata practically shouted, "Th-this probably cost a l-lot of money!"

"So?"

"So I'm not worth all of that!I-I mean, just for a present..." She led off when Naruto held up a hand, his face scrunched up in thought.

"Did you like the present?" He asked, and she had to restrain herself from throwing her hands up in a very un-Hinata like action.

"Th-That isn't the point-"

"Did. You. Like. The. Present. Yes or no?"

"W-Well yes-"

"So then what's the big deal?" Naruto asked, shrugging as if the thought of all that money was nothing. "You like it, you're happy with it, I was happy buying it, so there's really nothing to be worried about."

"B-But I don't want you to th-think th-that I'll only be happy with expensive g-gifts." Hinata managed, wondering if that sounded as silly as she thought it did, and judging by the look Naruto gave her it did.

"So you only want me to buy you cheap gifts?" Naruto asked curiously, confused by how the whole conversation was going. He had always thought that girls liked presents.

"N-No. I-I just meant that..." Hinata sighed. "I-I don't know. Th-that I don't want you spending so much money on me?" She managed.

"Who else should I spend it on? I don't want anything for myself, and if I see something I think you'll like and want to buy it for you, why shouldn't I?"

"B-Because I-I don't want you to think that I-I expect it." Hinata said, wondering at how strange the whole thing was. Here she was with a boyfriend who wanted to buy her all kinds of expensive things without her asking -something that would have had a great majority of girls jealous- and she was trying to get him to stop.

"I know you don't expect it. You never ask me for anything. I _want _to do it, though. And it really isn't like money is a problem. I've never had anyone or anything to spend it on, so all of my mission pay is just sitting in the bank, and then there's the money that Jiraiya left me and also the inheritance from my parents." Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Hey, I'm actually kind of rich."

"N-Naruto..." Hinata started, wanting to tell him that the amount of money he had didn't matter to her but finding herself unable to do so when Naruto grabbed her hand and started to pull her along.

"Come on, let's go get something to eat! You can pick, Hina-chan." And Hinata sighed and followed him along, hoping that Naruto would at least _think_ before getting her something so outrageously expensive again.

* * *

There you go my dear ones!

I don't really see Valentine's day as that big of a deal, but some people do and I think that Sakura would probably be one of them, and I also think that Naruto would want to be a part of it and do all that couple stuff, especially if he thought it would make Hinata happy.

See you soon!


	85. From Konoha With Love, KibaEri

Here's the next one!

* * *

Eri was, as always, faithfully working and writing up a letter that Naruto had -some what- dictated to her when the door to the office was thrown open and her lover cockily strode in, a wide grin on his face that immediately put her on guard. He came up and leaned against her desk, plopping a plain white box down in front of her on top of all her neatly written out and tidy paperwork, and smirked.

"Soooo... Do you know what today is?" He asked her, and after sending him a perfectly blank look Eri merely proceeded to work around her new obstructions, managing to ignore the box sitting before as if it weren't even there.

"Yes, Kiba, I believe I do. It is Thursday." She answered simply, not even bothering to look up from one of the mission rosters she was now cataloging.

"And...?" He prompted, Akamaru beside him now thumping his tail in their joined excitement.

"...And it is sub-sandwich day in the cafeteria." She said after a moment of prompting. "I believe I'm going to have the turkey with tomato, ranch, and spinach, if you're interested."

Kiba rolled his eyes at her and pulled the papers out of her hand -a dangerous act, but one that needed to be done if he had any chance of her actually paying attention to him.

"No," He said, figuring that it would be best to stop beating around the bush now that he had her attention and before she decided to stab him in the leg with an ink pen for interrupting her work. "It's Valentine's Day. You know, hearts and roses and all that shit? So here," He said, shoving the box towards her. "Happy Valentine's Day."

Eri snatched her paperwork back and stared at him a moment, unmoved, before turning her attention to the box. It was to big to be flowers or "_all that shit"_, as Kiba had so eloquently put it, and she didn't have any hints to go by since it was just a plain white box, so with a sigh she pulled the lid off.

She had expected what all of her past "loves" had gotten her on the Valentine's Days she had participated in; stuff like perfume or chocolates, sparkly jewelry, lingerie, and even a purse once, but this was none of those things. These were sex embodied in the form of two black slim heeled platform stilettos, thin straps criss-crossing and joining together just before the toes and going all the way up to the ankle.

She knew without asking that he had got them from the shop that had always made the clothes for her clan, and just like all the other heels she owned she knew that these would have a compartment hidden beneath the toes and that with little prompting from her chakra a deadly and unseen blade would flick out from her heel, coated with poison.

"How did you know where to find these?" She asked, knowing that the woman who made them was a closely guarded secret her family kept and allowed very few to find out about.

"I didn't. I asked Shino for some help and somehow -I don't ask questions anymore- he knew about that little old lady's shop."

"What did he get in return?" She asked, seeing from the grimace on his face that it hadn't been a purely selfless act.

"He wanted to know some stuff about my sister and things she... likes." He scowled and muttered something about traitorous best friends trying to get into his sister's pants, but Eri ignored him.

She hadn't really expected him to participate in the little lover's holiday -other than the special sex part that was usually expected- but then he had to ruin it and get her a present when she didn't have anything for him. Not only that though, he had gotten her _shoes._

The bastard.

Carefully replacing the lid Eri stood up wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him soundly stupid. He tried to move closer but was hindered by the desk, and when Eri finally pulled back they were both breathless.

"I didn't get you a present," She finally managed after a few moments, "But I can give you one, if you'd like." Seeing the grin and the glint in his eyes Eri pulled back and gave him a hard glare. "_Not_ in my office, Kiba."

"I could make Akamaru stand guard."

"No."

"But-"

"No. Now are you going to listen to me or not?" He sighed and nodded, obviously pouting at the thought of not getting any office sex.

"Now, go to my apartment and go into the second bedroom closet. Pick out whatever you want." Kiba stared at her for a moment, puzzled.

"Why do you want me to go into your closet and pick out one of your suits?" He finally asked, and Eri shook her head.

"The closet in the other bedroom. The really tiny one." Seeing that he still wasn't understanding, Eri decided to add the rest, even though she had wanted to surprise him. "Kiba, do you really think that after twelve years of being a seductress I didn't pick up any outfits or special lingerie of the like? I couldn't just throw all of that away, so I just kept it all separate from my regular clothes since everything I owned wouldn't fit in one closet."

Seeing his eyes light up in understanding and an almost childlike joy and wonder -like a kid at Christmas- Eri nodded.

"Right. You can pick out one, do you hear me? _One._ And it's only for special occasions or when I think you deserve it, so don't expect me to do this all the time."

She had barely gotten the last word out before he was hurrying out the door, obviously eager to see what she had hidden in this second closet of hers.

Eri chuckled in amusement and sat down to finish her paperwork, wanting to get done before Kiba got too carried away.

* * *

A quick shout out to Sumiku Agaishi who made my day with his (or her, I'm bad at assigning gender rolls to my readers, so if I got it wrong I appologize) review by calling me Goddess-san (so happy! I love this!), calling himself a lurker of the dark and playing with his beard. You keep rocking your rad self, you sexy beast you!


	86. From Konoha With Love, MisaLee

Look! A MisaLee after months of.. well, no MisaLee! (Though this is actually mainly Kado centric).

* * *

Kado felt like an idiot. Here he was, walking around in front of an apartment building like some kind of creeper weirdo when it was obvious that no one was home, hoping like some pansy that they would show up because he had missed Misaki and even that weirdo Lee recently.

Never mind that it was stupid Valentine's day and that of course they weren't home. And even if they were, it wasn't like they'd want some kid around them. After all, Valentine's day was all about love and hearts and stupid fluffiness, not a kid butting into their lives wanting some attention and affection.

Huffing out his breath he turned on his heel to go away, but a few streets down a familiar voice made him stop.

"Kado-kun? What are you doing here?" Kado turned to see what had become his favorite person in the world walking up to him, the very tip of her nose red from the cold and her hands tucked into the pockets of her bright coat.

"Ah, you know. Just in the neighborhood. Where's Lee?" He asked, looking around for the familiar and green form of the absurdly animated man.

"He left this morning to go do something important, though he didn't tell me what. Your hands are freezing!" She gasped as she intruded his personal space and picked them up. Rubbing them briskly between her own and not noticing the light blush on the boy's face, she looked around and saw the restaurant she had been headed to.

"Come on," She instructed, not letting go of his hand and pulling him behind her. "I had reservations for Lee and me, and since he had to go and do something I was just going to see if I could pick something up but we can get something to eat and get you warmed up instead."

Kado thought about fighting, but all previous attempts at him doing so had only ever ended in him giving up so he decided to get it over with early. Anyways, with how classy the place was they would take one look at his grungy jeans and too thin jacket and throw him out.

But amazingly that didn't happen, and he soon found himself looking over a menu where everything looked like it took knowing four different languages to know what it was, and the food was a lot different than what he was used to when he was with her since it wasn't burned or undercooked or some other such thing. He had a good time and they were going back into the apartment for some hot coco that he knew would be more chunky powder than milk -he couldn't have ended the night with out _something _he ate or drank during their time together being hideously deformed. It would have been like not dunking a cookie in milk; it wasn't done.

But when she opened the door, instead of seeing the usual slightly messy apartment all he saw was an ocean of flowers and candles everywhere, the smell of it all creeping out to sucker-punch him in the nose and make him want to gag.

"My beautiful blossom!" Lee cried as he popped up from where Kado could only guess the couch was. There were to many roses to actually see. "Happy Valentine's day!" He said with a grand sweep of his arm, and Kado belatedly noticed that there was a giant stuffed turtle with its face pressed up against Gomo-chan's aquarium.

"Oh, Lee!" Misaki cried, her hands going up to her mouth as her eyes widened in what Kado realized was awe. He actually saw some tears. "It's wonderful!"

Well, that wasn't the word he would have used.

Misaki and Lee somehow managed to leap magically -that's really the only description he could give it- over the mess of flowers to meet in the middle, Lee lifting her up in a little twirl as they kissed. The two of them so deep in their little love haze that they didn't notice they had managed to topple some vases of flowers over, most of which Kado somehow managed to catch, the others he tried to righten before too much water was spilled.

Not noticing Kado dutifully mopping up the water before they stepped in it and slipped -and he knew they would, ninja or no- Misaki pulled back and grinned at her husband, not bothering to worry about Lee's sturdy hold on her since she knew he'd never drop her.

"It's all so beautiful, Lee-kun." She said dreamily. Lee grinned up at her, eager to see just how excited she would be when he told her the rest.

"I've also got fireworks we can set off on top of the Hokage mountain." He told her, watching as her entire face lit up.

"Fireworks?" She asked dreamily.

"Fireworks?!" Kado practically shouted, stopping his mopping to gape at the pair, able to see the loss of limbs and third degree burns easily.

"Ah! Kado, do you wish to go too?" Lee asked him gallantly, and Kado tried to figure out if he was more against going because of the certain doom of the fireworks or because he didn't want to spend all that time with them when they'd probably be off in their own little word making out with each other or something like that.

"Oh! Please Kado-kun? Please come with us?" Misaki begged, and Kado didn't even bother to slump in defeat. He just accepted that he'd never be able to say no to her eyes and hoped that they'd somehow be able to make it to the hospital in time to save any damaged limbs when they were done.

* * *

I guess this would go toI 'm Naruto Dude, who asked for another MisaLee in... November. Let's just ignore the fact that it is now March (the thirty-first, at that). He asked for one where Lee teaches Kado how to fight as well, but that isn't going to happen (sorry). I have a plan, you see, but it does not involve Kado becoming a ninja.

See ya!


	87. From Konoha With Love, KakaSaku

This one is also for my dear Hana Lee, who asked for another KakaSaku.

* * *

Sakura was cursing creatively and was loudly throwing pots around, glaring at everything and nothing. Suds and water flew as she slammed things into the sink, growling and hissing as she washed the dirty dishes that _he_ had made her dirty, the low down rat bastard.

She hadn't expected to do anything with Kakashi for Valentine's Day since they had only been sleeping together for a few months -something that she still found unbelievable. So when he had asked her what she wanted to do that night and she replied "Sleep", she had thought that that was the end of it.

But then one day they were training together and she had just kept on losing and he had taunted her about it, leading her to make a foolish bet that if she lost the next round she'd do one thing of his choice for him. They had always had a rule that she wouldn't use her chakra hits on his body if he wouldn't put her under with the sharingan. Though apparently when he wanted something that rule was out the window because as soon as she had said start he had her trapped with that stupid eye of his.

And then after screaming at him until her throat went raw her stupid pride wouldn't let her back out of it, so he had asked her for chocolates that weren't too sweet.

And wouldn't you know it, the day he wanted them just so happened to coincide with Valentine's day.

She had no idea what he was up to or why he wanted the stupid chocolates for, but she did know that she was going to shove the damn things down his throat if he even looked at them sideways or refused to eat them.

A gruff throat was cleared behind her and she whirled around to see Pakkun sitting at the entrance of her little kitchenette.

"Kakashi sent me to make sure that you made the chocolates." He said simply, and he was completely surprised to see the sweet pink haired girl with the tiniest bit of cocoa powder on her cheek turn into a fiery eyed demon spawn.

"You tell that giant _ass _of a _baboon _that I've made his chocolates, and that he'll be lucky if I don't hold him down and cut off a certain favored appendage of his after I force the damn things down his throat. _Slowly." _She roared, making the small dog back up just the tiniest bit. She looked positively terrifying.

"Ah... Right. I'll do that." Pakkun managed before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Sakura hissed and just barely held herself back from punching her wall, instead settling for viciously kicking her thankfully empty trashcan so that it was propelled across her apartment, clanging to the floor in a mangled and crumpled heap.

The next morning -almost as if he were _trying _to piss her off- Kakashi broke into her apartment through her window and prompted her awake by actually poking her. _Poking her _like he was an immature three-year-old. Glaring up at him with an undisguised loathing, Sakura growled out his name before launching herself at him, trying to get in just one good chakra hit so that he could hurt to her satisfaction. But he merely dodged and caught her to carry her out of the room and to her kitchen, and then he had the audacity to _laugh _at her as she struggled.

If she had been a bit calmer she would have wondered at Kakashi's playfulness, but she was just feeling a bit too murderous at the moment to even care.

"Put me down!" She howled and Kakashi chuckled, obviously amused by her.

"Don't worry, Sakura. I just came to get my treat and then I'll be out of your hair." He said, dropping her to the kitchen floor and managing to evade her fist once again.

"Fine!" She grit out, turning to grab a baggie off the counter and throwing it at his head. "Just take it!"

Kakashi tutted his tongue at her as if scolding her and tugged down his mask to pop a piece of the candy in his mouth.

"Hmm..." He hummed lightly, judging the taste. "Not bad."

"_'Not bad?'_ Kakashi, that had better be the best damn thing you've ever tasted in you life, or else I'll rearrange your face and make it the last." She threatened and Kakashi smiled, managing to completely disarm her.

"Yes, I heard something similar from Pakkun." He said, and Sakura hoped he took how red her face was as anger. And it partially was, but the other part was from his smile.

She really loved his smile.

"Well, you better believe that I meant it because I-" She managed to get in before Kakashi's lips were on her's, smothering the rest of her retort and all of her good sense.

One of his arms went around her waist while his hand went to the back of her neck, holding her in place, and she punched his chest repeatedly to get free. At first. But slowly, as she always did, she melted and opened up to him.

His tongue swept into her mouth to tempt hers, and her taste-buds erupted with the dark temptation of chocolate.

He pulled back after a few minutes and she stared up at him with dazed eyes, panting as she watched him lick his lips with a dark look in his eyes that made her knees quiver and her stomach clench in anticipation.

"You know," He said with a husky drawl that threatened to short out her nerves, "You're right. That might just have been the best thing that I've tasted." And with that he pulled his mask back into place, grabbed his chocolate and left.

"Bastard." Sakura managed to pant out, biting her bottom lip lightly as she savored the taste that still tempted her tongue.


	88. From Konoha With Love, ShikaTema

This is more like _"From Suna, With Love",_ but hey, whatever.

* * *

The heat of the hot desert sun quickly chased away the chill of the earlier night, its rays of light dancing over the barren landscape and the walls of the sturdy buildings in Suna, peeking through the gauzy curtains Temari had pulled over the windows and touching her face as if to prompt her awake.

She only stirred a bit at this annoyance, but what did bring her out of sleep was the lightest of touches on her bare back, like butterflies dancing over her skin.

She didn't jump up on the attack since she knew what is was, and she didn't jerk away or do anything to show she was lucid, instead she just stayed relaxed and kept her breathing shallow and even so not to scare him away.

It was one of the times Shikamaru had come to Suna for a mission and it had been all too easy and natural for them to head up to her room when the day was done and be together. It was like she had never left Konoha to go back to Suna and those months that they had been apart had never happened. It was seamless how easy it was to fall back into their relationship, and it was almost as if she hadn't been having doubts about what the distance might do to them recently.

It was terrifying how easily it made her want to just pack everything up and go to be with him in a more permanent situation.

She could feel his eyes studying her as his fingertips traced feather-light designs over her back, dark eyes that dissected and analyzed ever single minute detail of the world, and she was thankful that her face was turned away from him since she knew that those eyes would be able to see her every thought easily as if they were written across her face with black ink.

After a few more silent moments of this Shikamaru got up without a word and barely a sound other than the whisper of sheets, and he padded across the room to the bathroom, stopping to pick up his clothes.

A few minutes passed, only enough for him to get changed and brush his teeth, and then he was stepping back into the room and Temari finally opened her eyes to get one last look at him.

He hadn't shaved -probably had been too lazy to- and he was dressed back up in his floor wrinkled ninja gear. She didn't question why he was leaving or why he couldn't stay a bit longer, he had been on a mission -one he had probably taken just to see her, though he would ever admit it and she would never ask- and he had finished it so it was time to return home.

They didn't kiss or cry all over one another or say any of the sickeningly sweet things that other couples said. They didn't need to. They smirked at each other -she still laying naked on her stomach in bed, tussled from sleep, and he all shaggy and wrinkled standing there with one foot out of the door already- and that's all they needed to do to understand each other perfectly.

"You better not have tracked any dirt into the house last night." She threatened, lifting herself up onto her arms slightly. He turned away from her with a small sound of disgust and started towards the door.

"Tch. Whatever, you troublesome woman." He muttered, and with that he walked out of the door to head back home.

She smiled slightly at the closed door and then sighed, not ready yet to admit to herself that she already missed him. Turning her head she looked towards the side of the bed that he had occupied during the night and nearly jerked back in shock to see this little... _thing_ sitting on top of the other pillow, resting in the slight indention that Shikamaru's head had made during the night.

After the shock passed Temari realized that the thing was actually a little stuffed deer, and if she looked close enough she swore that she could see the same lazy expression as Shikamaru in its little stitched on face. Noticing the little folded up slip of paper seated in front of it Temari picked it up and read the little five word note:

_Couple holidays are so troublesome._

Laughing and able to blush just the tiniest bit in the privacy of her own bedroom Temari grabbed the soft toy and hugged it as a broad smile grew on her face. Burying her face into a pillow that smelt of the man that had only minutes ago left it, Temari held the deer close and understood that she was officially and royally screwed.

Didn't that bastard know how difficult it was going to be and how long it was going to take to get all of her things moved across the desert and through the forest to the leaf village?

* * *

I don't know where this idea came from, but I like it. And if you don't get the deer thing, it is the Nara clan's animal (apparently they take care of some, too).

I also just really wanted to give Temari a stuffed animal, and to do a cute (but trying not to be) Shikamaru moment.


	89. From Konoha With Love, InoCho

And here's the last one! (I couldn't think of anything for Neji and Tenten since Kathy went to sleep, but if inspiration hits her I'll be sure to immediately type it up (Though it isn't like I have a choice))

* * *

Ino stormed into Sakura's apartment, huffing as she stomped over to the kitchen table to sit in her usual distressed spot, slumping into the table as she waited for her friend to eventually show up since one of the dogs -she really had no idea how Sakura kept all of their names straight- that had been on the couch had just trotted off.

A few moments later the pinkette appeared with a toddler on her hip, said four year old quickly wiggling her way down to race over to greet her favorite aunt.

"Ino," Sakura sighed and she slipped into her seat, pulling Karin into her lap when the white haired girl held out her arms, "What is it now?"

"I want to make Choji chocolate for Valentine's day." Ino muttered into the wood. Sakura stared at the girl for a moment, waiting for her to continue, but when she didn't she just rolled her eyes skyward.

"The horror." She deadpanned, and Ino jerked her head up to glare at her for her tone. "What? Just go to the store and buy some like you do every year."

"But I want to _make _it this year." Ino stressed, "I heard this one guy say that homemade chocolates taste the best, and I decided that I want to try making it for Choji."

"But you hate cooking." Sakura reminded her, to which Ino just rolled her eyes.

"I _know._ But I figured that if you helped me I'd be able to do it without much trouble. You do now how to make chocolates, right?"

Sakura grumbled a bit, but a small smile spread over her lips. "Yeah, I did for Kakashi one year. I ended up throwing them at his face, I think." Seeing the blonde girl's pleading look Sakura just sighed in defeat.

"Fine, but you _will _be helping."

"Of course!" Ino promised with a huge smile.

But two hours later Sakura was putting pans in the freezer while Ino sat on the living room floor playing with Karin, having left the kitchen after the first half hour when she had gotten some of the ingredients on her shirt so that she could wash it off, ending up flipping through a magazine after she had come out of the bathroom and had spotted the latest issue of _Kunoichi Weekly _on the side table.

Sakura spotted the blonde and shook her head at her, having known from the beginning that it would happen like it had. Ino didn't like cooking though she _could _do it and so she tried to stay as far away from the art as she could, even when she felt like she wanted to.

"Here." Sakura said, handing Ino a pan, "Put this in the freezer overnight and then you can cut it up in the morning."

"Oh, thanks!" Ino said with a bright smile, "Was it hard?"

"Hard enough that I'm not going to do it for you again." Sakura stated evenly. "Now shoo, it's time for Karin's nap."

"No!" Karin whined, and seeing that there was a chance of the girl throwing a fit Ino was quick to get up and get out, holding the pan of chocolate proudly.

* * *

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Ino cheered as she handed Choji the larger than average bag of chocolates. "I made you chocolate!"

Sitting down at the table of the restaurant, Choji looked down at the bag and then up at his girlfriend across from him who was happily playing with the necklace he had gotten her.

"Ino," He said, his amusement apparent. "You didn't make these." He knew how much she hated cooking or baking or even _touching _a stove, so there was no question about how she hadn't made the chocolates.

"No," Ino agreed easily, "But it's the thought that counts. So the thought that I _could _have made them makes up for me not actually making them. So there you go." She said, smiling happily at him as if she had just made all the sense in the world.

He shook his head fondly at her in amusement before digging into the bag, and she knew that at least this way he wouldn't be disappointed since Sakura could make good chocolate.

* * *

I see Ino as the person who was extremely confident in herself when her relationships mainly consisted of shallow reasoning and sex, but as soon as it got serious she would panic about even the smallest things because she would be afraid of messing things up and what everything meant.

And Sakura gets the brunt of this, along with her poor kitchen table.

See you later, my sweet ones!


	90. Learning of the Fox, Naruto

Hello my darling, hello my lovlies, hello my sweetie pies~

Hahaha (I just sang that in my head.)

Well, here's a new chapter for you, my darling dears.

You see, I was reading a NaruHina fic that focused a lot on the feelings and reactions of people towards Naruto about him being the container of the nine tails (it was eighty _extreemly _long chapters over two stories, and it's still going on (I liked it decently, though)) and I just got the idea for this.

* * *

Walking down the street, Naruto was now used to the people he passed bowing and greeting him cordially after years of being Hokage, though it was still just a little weird. The two dark haired girls that gripped his hands were used to it as well, so they smiled happily at the people but otherwise ignored them and instead focused on their father since the man had taken a break from his very important -or at least that was what their mother told them- work to take them out to lunch.

Once they spotted the familiar sight of their father's favorite restaurant they broke out into a run, dragging the laughing blonde man along with them.

"Teuchi-san!" They cried happily, releasing their father's hands to try and scramble up onto some stools, their smiling father giving their bottoms a gentle push so that they could get all the way up.

"If it isn't three of my favorite customers!" The older man greeted them, "And where are the others?"

"Kori is at school and Hinata is home taking a nap with the baby while I take these two," Naruto smirked and nodded to the three-and-a-half year olds who were swinging their legs back and forth on their stools and looking like a matching pair of little angels, "Off of her hands."

"We were being _'difficult'_." Yuka confided, making the shop owner and his daughter laugh.

"Yes, well, all children are difficult at times." He said as he began to fix their meals, remembering their usual favorites easily, "And at least you get some time with your father now."

"Yep." Yuka said, twisting her stool slightly from side to side, "And now we don't have to listen to Leo cry."

"Yuka." Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes upward, "You used to cry when you were a baby too."

"Not as bad as him." She said confidently, "All he does is cry and just lay there and cry some more, and then he _smells_." She wrinkled her nose, disgusted. "Mom told us that a baby would be fun but she _lied_."

This got another round of laughter as their meal was served, and the group happily dug in, stuffing their faces until their cheeks bulged out as they reveled in the tiny freedom and rebelliousness of lunch without their mother reminding them of their table-manners.

The girls were getting done with their bowls and Naruto with his fifth when he noticed a person who stepped into the shop and stared hard at him before making a sign against evil and then turning away to hurry out. Naruto ignored the bitter taste in his mouth -a taste he knew well- and turned back to his daughters, hoping that they hadn't seen.

But by the questioning look in their astonishingly pale blue eyes he knew that nothing had escaped their watchful young eyes.

"Daddy-" Yuki started, but was stopped when he jumped up and picked both her and her sister.

"Well, we better get you two to your mother so I can get back to work. I've got important paperwork to get back to." Naruto declared with forced cheer, quickly paying for their meal and then leaving the shop with a quick wave to a concerned Teuchi.

He quickly made his way back towards the house with the two girls in his arms, hoping to drop them off and maybe get a little bit of time to think. But his daughters had another idea.

"Daddy!" Yuka shouted as she tried to get his attention, yanking hard on his ear, "Put us _down_!"

Grumbling and rubbing his now sore ear he did as they bid and then stood there awkwardly under the scrutiny of their all too aware combined gaze. He still felt the brief hope that he would be able to at least momentarily get out of explaining things, but it disappeared on seeing that they would accept nothing less than the answers they wanted and only he could give.

"Okay, okay." Naruto sighed wearily, putting his hands to the girls' backs to lightly push them towards a bench when he noticed that they were in the park. "Let's sit down for a minute."

They sat in silence for a few minutes as Naruto fidgeted, trying desperately to figure out just how to even start this. The parenting books he and Hinata had flipped through hadn't exactly went over how to tell your daughters that a demon lived inside of you.

"Daddy?" His eyes snapped over to meet Yuki's curious ones, "Why did that man act that way toward you?"

"Yeah! He looked really mad."

Looking at his girls, Naruto reminded himself that they were only three and that they wouldn't truly understand the severity of who and what he was for many, many years. They were still little, and they wouldn't be able to judge him as others still did because he was their father and in their safe little world that meant _everything_.

But they were also nearly four, and with that they were an inch closer to being fully be able to see him, see how _those people_ reacted to him, see what was inside of him, and _know. _

They were smart girls, and he knew that in this case their capable little minds had worked against him.

"Girls, when I was little, really really little, something attacked the village. Do you know anything about that?"

"...The demon fox, right?" Yuki tentatively asked, remembering a story she had heard but not knowing what that had to do with her father.

"Yes. The nine tailed fox. You see, the fox was kept inside of a woman so that the village could protect itself, but it was taken out of her so that he could be controlled and used for his power."

"Who was the woman?" Yuka asked, her eyes wide as she absorbed the new story.

"My mother and your grandmother." Naruto told them, smiling at the little theatric gasps they gave. "It almost killed her. And my father, the Yondaime Hokage, fought the nine tails and the man who had released it. In the end the only way to stop the fox was to seal it into someone, so my parents sacrificed themselves to seal him into me." The girls gasped again.

"_Really?_" Yuka asked, watching as her father nodded and then drew his shirt up with barely contained curiosity. He focused his chakra for a moment and his seal flared to life, surprising yet another gasp from the girls.

"Wow." Yuki whispered as she traced her finger over one of the thick black lines as her sister poked persistently at the center.

"So it's really in there? Does it hurt? Can it feel it if I do _this_?" She asked digging her finger into his ribs with surprising strength.

"Yes, _he _is. His name is Kurama, and we have an understanding so he doesn't hurt me. And _he _can't feel that, Yuka, but I can."

The girl sheepishly pulled back but continued to stare at his stomach, question after question racing through her mind.

"Kurama?" Yuki pondered, pulling her hand back so her father could put his shirt back down.

"Yep. He's not really happy to be inside of me, but he helps me a lot by lending me chakra so that I can be strong and protect everyone. He's also saved my life a couple of times." He told them, deciding to not mention the whole _'I die, he dies'_ thing. He didn't really think that it was the right thing to bring up to three-year-olds.

"He saved you?" Yuki asked, waiting for his affirming nod. "So he's nice?" She tried to connect that thought to the idea of the mean and scary demon fox that everyone told of in their stories, but she knew that if her father said so then it was true.

"...Yeah." Naruto managed, ignoring the growling that could be heard in the back of his head at the thought of the great and powerful demon fox being thought of as _nice_.

"But why do people act that way towards you?" Yuka asked, and Naruto smiled at her, though it was strained.

"Because not everyone understands, and some people think that he will take me over and try to destroy the village again."

"But you won't let that happen, will you Daddy?" Yuki asked, and he really did grin now, confident in his answer.

"Nope. I'm going to keep everyone safe."

Yuki nodded thought fully before leaning down so that her face was right in front of his stomach, smiling. "Thank you for keeping my daddy safe." She said, speaking to his seal, and Yuka quickly joined her.

"Yeah! And thanks for not being evil and mean like everyone thinks and for protecting us even if they're mean to you." She blinked as a sudden thought came to her. "Daddy, can he talk to us? Can he even hear us?"

He chuckled and ruffled her hair, wondering at how Kurama felt about getting so much attention and thanks from the two little girls before him. "Yes, he can hear you, but I don't really think that right now is the time for you to talk to him. We've got to get you home."

The girls nodded resignedly and slipped off of the bench, their hands going naturally into their father's as they walked back.

"So is that why you have those lines on your face like whiskers?" Yuka asked, skipping as she tried to get in as many questions as she could before their father left them.

"I think I was born with them."

"Oh. Why don't we have them?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I guess I'd look funny with those marks, so I'm okay. What does the fox -Kurama, I mean- look like?"

"Um... Like a really big fox with nine tails."

"What does he sound like? Is his voice really big and scary or quiet? Does he have a girly voice?"

Naruto sighed, knowing that the endless round of questioning he was in for was going to be tiring and he could only hope that they would forget about it within the week -though such a short time would only happen with a miracle.

Though the thought of Kurama with a high pitched squealing lady voice was hilarious enough to ease a bit of the pain the next few days would be.

* * *

The thing I was thinking about was that all of the villagers wouldn't accept Naruto even after he became Hokage, and that there would be some who were still scared of him and hated him.

So what if, one day, his children saw this?

Thank you to all of my delightful darlings who make my day so much better, and especially to Sumiku Agaishi who continues to call me a Goddess and makes me laugh (thank you my sweet one)

The rest of you, take note of her.

See you soon!


	91. Sick Leave, NaruHina

Hello my dearlings! How are you upon this magnificent morn?

Really? That's cool.

This one is for one of my newest dears leeniejs who asked:

**"Can we see what happens when Hinata gets sick for a little while and Naruto has to balance being Hokage and taking care of so many kids on his own? Maybe when they are all really little and they all need to be watched over and care for all hours of the day and night?"**

So when she (look at me, once again predicting gender. I bet I'm wrong. Again.) said this, I gots me a little idea and had to write this out. It got a bit away from me (of course, why would I have control of my own story?), but I like it pretty well.

Okie-Dokie then, let's get this show on the road peoples!

* * *

Naruto yawned widely as he started up the stairs of the porch, wondering at how he could go for hours without rest on a mission without becoming tired but feel positively exhausted after only half a day of paperwork. It was only papers and ink -boring that they were- and there wasn't any physical activity like there had been when he used to race through trees or fight off the enemy, so really, being able to sit in that chair and just calmly sign trade agreements and mission reports should have been like a type of vacation from all the running around he used to do. He should feel invigorated, energetic even, and he should be able to feel like he could take on whatever came his way.

Oh God, he was tired.

Opening the front door Naruto slid off the coat that declared him as Hokage and kicked the door shut, grinning widely and tiredly as he waited to see who would come for him first this time.

"Daddy!" Two voices cheerily shouted, the light stomping of small feet hurriedly approaching sounding loudly just before two matching girls in their long nightgowns ran out from the living room to him, hugging him tightly as if they hadn't seen him in weeks instead of just that morning.

Laughing at them as they began to tell him about their day, Naruto playfully scooped up the two seven year olds and put a delightedly squealing girl on each shoulder, grinning as he felt a little bit of his tiredness recede. Walking into the living room Naruto found his wife curled up on the couch with a dozing Leo in her lap, the baby sleeping in the cradle swing beside them.

"Hey." Hinata murmured quietly, the red headed boy in her lap blinking his dark blue eyes sleepily at his father.

"Hey there." Naruto replied happily, keeping a tight hold on the still giggling girls as he swooped down for his welcome home kiss, pulling back to put his daughters down and to pick up Leo when he held out his arms.

"Hey buddy, how are you?" Naruto asked, the red head giving a grin that resembled his, though even sleepier.

"Fine. Not tired." He said even as his eyelids drooped lower and lower as if drawn by a magnet. Naruto looked at the visibly weary boy and grinned, taking in his tussled and wildly spiking hair, the face that was going lax with just the tiniest bit of drool on his cheek from where he had been sleeping a few minutes before and the green pajamas he wore with the hopping frogs going across the top, which had rolled up over his still baby fattened stomach just enough to reveal the little outie belly button.

"Of course not." Naruto agreed, sitting down with the boy in his lap. "Why would you be?"

"'Dunno." The boy slurred, his head dropping to his father's chest.

"Maybe because it's past your bedtime." Hinata said as she stood up, glancing at the still sleeping Mino one last time before turning to her other children. "Come on, it's time for all of you to get to bed."

"But Mom," Yuka started, a definite whine to her voice, "Leo got to stay up!"

"Until your father got home, yes. That was the deal we all made, and now that he's here it's time for all of you to get to bed." Hinata reminded her, her voice soft but stern. She reached out for her eldest son and though he went into her arms willingly it wasn't without one last slurring protest of "Not tired."

"Up to bed, and knock on your sister's door and tell her to come down here to say good-night to your father." Hinata commanded the twins, ushering them upstairs after they had kissed their father on the cheek and wished him a good night, leaving Naruto to stay with the baby and relax for a few minutes, almost nodding off at how calming it was to be back home.

After everyone had said their good-nights and had been tucked into bed Hinata settled back down on the couch with a sigh, closing her eyes and sinking gratefully into the comfortable cushions, feeling as if she never wanted to move from her spot ever again. Naruto glanced over at her, taking in her tired appearance and the faint half moons that rested beneath her closed eyes with concern.

"You okay?" He asked her quietly, and she smiled and nodded in answer, shifting a bit so that her head rested comfortably on his shoulder.

"Mmm... Yes. Busy day. How was yours?"

"Paperwork. Lots and lots of boring paperwork. I think that if I close my eyes I'll start seeing policies and pay rates on the back of my eyelids." Hinata laughed like he had wanted her to, and then got up with a groan far too soon for his liking.

"I saved some dinner for you, so it just needs to be warmed up for a minute." She said, moving to go get it before he could do so himself. When she came back in with an absurdly large bowl of homemade ramen in her hands, Naruto's smile couldn't have gotten any bigger.

"Since I knew you'd be working a bit late tonight I made this for you, and there's some more in the fridge if you want to warm it up before you go in tomorrow." Hinata told him, holding back her laughter as he stared at her and the food as if she were giving him the most priceless jewels in the world.

"You're amazing, and I don't think that I've ever loved you more." He told her before happily digging in. It still wasn't as good as Ichiraku's but it was incredible and there were times he swore his wife was perfect. When he told her so -not the part about it not being as good as Ichiraku's, though, he wanted to go to sleep in his own bed- she laughed and waved him off before curling up in the corner of the couch, falling asleep before she even realized she was tired enough to do so.

Once he was finished with his food Naruto looked over to thank Hinata again, only to find her peacefully sleeping, breathing shallowly looking even paler than she had a few minutes ago. Naruto felt a pang of guilt over just how tired she was, and determined to get done with his work early the next day -or just burn it- so that he could get home and give her a break from their kids so she could get a bit of rest and relaxation.

He silently crept over to the hanging crib to pull Mino out of it, whispering a wordless prayer of thanks that his youngest was the quietest and most well mannered baby in the world. Mino just blearily opened his wide eyes to stare at him for an unfocused moment when he was jostled before simply blinking and and closing his eyes, falling back asleep as Naruto went upstairs to put him in his crib in the room that the two boys shared. He quickly checked on Leo, saving the boy from falling out of the bed and onto his head by rolling him back into place. Somehow the boy had turned himself sideways with his head and shoulders and one arm hanging off of the side of the bed, just a breath away from falling and perhaps even breaking something.

He shuffled back downstairs and went to his wife's side, crouching down beside and saying her name quietly to wake her up enough so that it would be easier to get her to bed. When her tired eyes met his he placed a kiss to her forehead and lifted her up, carrying her upstairs as she fell back asleep in his arms much as Mino had, and he couldn't figure if it was because her trust in him was so deep or because she was so tired that she seemed almost weighed down by it.

Once upstairs he quickly and effortlessly stripped her without rousing her before slipping one of the nightgowns she preferred over her head, laying her down and tucking her in before changing into his own sleepwear. Getting in bed with her Naruto glanced at the clock, noting with some amusement that it was only nine, and then fell into a blissful and weary sleep.

The sounds of retching and gagging coming from the bathroom were what woke him a handful of hours later. Quickly getting up Naruto hurried to the bathroom, looking in to find his wife on the floor with her head above the bowl of the toilet as she gagged and tried to valiantly keep the long strands of her hair back as she did so. Naruto was quickly at her side, gathering her hair in his hand and soothingly rubbing her back, remembering this routine from the bouts of morning sickness Hinata had went through with Kori.

Of course the thought of morning sickness made him freeze up, and he had to remind himself that Mino was only three months old and that it was impossible. Absolutely impossible. After all, a baby required sex, and even after she had healed up and had gotten the okay from the doctor they were both too tired to even really think about doing anything other than sleep once they both had a quiet moment together.

He loved his children, but dear God they did not need another one.

"Hey, 'Nata, you okay?" He asked, concerned and a great deal worried.

"Y-Yeah." She managed before gagging again and throwing up even more. After her stomach was finally empty Naruto helped her to stand and get to the sink after flushing the toilet, handing her the washrag he had dampened so that she could wipe her mouth.

Naruto cleaned everything up while Hinata went back into the bedroom to lay back down in bed, trying not to move too much in case it would upset her stomach, worried about not reacting in time and then getting sick all over the rug or worse, all over her lovely bedsheets. Naruto came back into the room and gingerly sat on the edge of her side of the bed, brushing her hair back away from her forehead, his eyebrows knitting together at the feeling of just how warm she was.

Petting her hair a little, he was unsure about what exactly he was supposed to do after checking her forehead, and he had only known to do that from seeing her doing it to the kids when they said that they felt bad. He'd never been sick himself due to Kurama's influence, and the times that the kids had gotten sick Hinata had mainly taken charge and he had mostly just cleaned up or bought what she had told him to.

He should probably just ask her what to do. That would make everything better.

"Do you need anything? What should I do?"

"No, I don't need anything." She murmured, closing her eyes to try and catch the solace of sleep to get away from the queasy unease that coiled her stomach, "I'll be better in the morning. I just need to get a bit of sleep."

Suddenly the sounds of crying crackled through the baby monitor that was perched on the side table and both heads snapped towards it, Hinata almost groaning at how much worse the sharp movement made everything.

"Just... Go take care of Mino, please. I don't think I could walk down there without throwing up on the poor thing."

Finally having a direction Naruto nodded and jumped up, hurrying down to the boys' room and to the baby. After checking and finding that he was just wet and then changing him, all he had to do was set him back into the crib before he fell right back to sleep, making his father wonder why his other four children hadn't been able to be so easy. He checked to make sure that Leo hadn't been woken up from the crying, and it didn't surprise him in the least that he hadn't since nothing could wake the red head short of an explosion of epic proportions going off at the foot of his bed. And even that was questionable.

Hurrying back into the bedroom he noted with relief that his wife had gone right back to sleep, and taking that as a sign that everything would definitely be alright he snuggled in right at her side.

* * *

After years of waking up in the familiar snare of Naruto's arms, Hinata had developed a certain way of getting out of the hold with ease and finesse without waking the man. It took a minute, but it was doable.

But when she woke up to the feeling of her stomach revolting against her, she knew that she didn't have that precious minute.

If it had been a threat Naruto would have instantly sensed it and she would have been free before a thought would have had the time to flit through her mind, but since there was no one and nothing in the room other than herself, Naruto really felt no reason to get up when he first felt Hinata stirring at the edge of his consciousness.

It wasn't until she had kicked him in the shin -hard- in her quest to be free that he even bothered to start to open his eyes.

"Hina- AH!" Naruto shouted as the pain of his wife's surprisingly sharp elbow accidentally connecting with his nose -again, _hard_- as she struggled free, and then with shock and a bit of pain he watched her nearly fall out of bed, catch herself, and then run as quick as she ever had into the bathroom for a repeat of what had happened just a couple of hours before.

Holding his nose and limping just the tiniest bit -seriously, it had _hurt_- He made his way to his wife to once again uselessly check in on her.

"Hina?" He asked, though with the way he was holding his nose it came out as _"__Hida"_

"I'm not-" She retched, "I'm not feeling any better." She managed uselessly. Naruto nodded and picked a hair-tie of hers out of the dish on the sink, pulling the heavy and interfering length of it back into a low tail.

"I see that." Naruto managed, reaching forward to place his hand on her head again, nearly cursing when it seemed to almost scorch his hand.

"I... I _can't _be sick. I -Ugh- It's a busy day and the kids have a lot -Ack!- a lot to do. I _cannot _be sick." She managed, holding out for just long enough before finally throwing up again, though this time it was just the acid that made her throat burn and feel raw and made her feel even more miserable than before.

"Don't worry about all of that!" Naruto declared when her heaving had finally calmed down for a moment, taking his hand away from his still throbbing nose, "I can take care of everything!"

Hinata blinked at her husband for a moment before realizing that he was being completely serious, "What about your work?"

"I'll make a clone and send him to do it. Heck, I'll send two clones." He told her, brushing her bangs back as he watched her in concern. She really didn't look good. She was too pale, the smudges of color beneath her eyes had darkened and had gained weight, and her whole body just seemed to be slumping in on itself, begging for mercy and rest.

"Do you want me to call Sakura?" He asked her, and she shook her head before groaning at how her head throbbed in protest to the movement.

"No, I'm sure that I'll be better once I get some sleep." She took a shuddering breath, "Are you _sure _that you can take care of everything?" She asked, and he nodded. "Okay. Kori has a day school trip, so you have to get her up and make sure that she's packed and at the school by seven. I promised-" She paused to gag into the toilet again, though there was no longer anything else to throw up, "I-I promised to take the girl's to the library, so you'll have to do that too. And then Leo will want to go to the playground, but you won't have any time for that so you'll have to say no, and then the grocery shopping needs to be done today."

"Alright, alright, I got it. Now let's get you back into bed." He said, helping her to get up and then crawl back in between the covers, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

He took a breath and thought back over the list she had given him. It didn't sound that bad, and he could probably get it done early enough that he could get back home and get everything settled in time to maybe get some rest himself. An easy day with his family would probably be a good break from work.

When he looked over at the glowing screen of the clock and saw that it was nearly six he decided to go ahead and wake Kori up so that they'd have plenty of time to get her to the school.

He didn't exactly know how difficult it was going to be.

When he walked up to her bed she was sleeping peacefully and innocently, curled into a loose ball in the middle of the bed. Reaching down he shook her shoulder, smiling slightly at just how sweet she looked.

That was when her fist came out and connected to his still slightly sore nose.

He stepped back from the sheer force of the hit, and as he stopped himself from cursing he glared down at the form of his daughter and realized with shock that she was still sleeping.

How the hell was she still sleeping? She had just _punched _him!

"Kori." He said, growling when she didn't even twitch. "Kori, get up." He moved forward to try and shake her awake again, this time blocking the punch she threw at him and then the kick that she directed _far_ too close to an area she had no business kicking near for comfort.

"Kori!" He shouted as the girl sat up, slowly opening her eyes to stare straight ahead at the far wall with a dead gaze. Before Naruto could say anything more to the girl she slipped out of bed and shuffled out of the room and across the hall to the bathroom, closing the door quietly behind her.

Naruto stood in the middle of the bedroom staring after his daughter, trying to figure out if he should march over to the bathroom and demand answers or just... well, he didn't really know.

Figuring that he'd better go and fix breakfast before doing something stupid like waking the whole house -thus making Hinata question whether he'd be able to last the day without her- Naruto went downstairs and started peering into cupboards to try and figure out what his eldest would want to eat that was relatively fast. He was reaching for a box of cereal that he remembered Kori liking when a pair of voices piped up behind him.

"Mom always makes us Saturday breakfast."

"Yeah."

Turning he saw the three middle children and he could only sigh. They were looking at him questioningly, expectantly, and he knew that there were going to be a lot of questions he didn't have the time to answer.

"Your mother is sick, so I'm going to stay home and do all the stuff she does today. No, we can't go and bother her or check up on her," He said, expecting the question as Yuka opened her mouth, "And it won't be the same but we'll just have to deal, okay?" He asked, the three of them nodding in answer.

"Alright then, let's see what we can make for breakfast!" Naruto said, the children cheering happily in answer.

He couldn't do anything big or fancy like Hinata did, and he especially couldn't do multiple dishes, so he'd need something relatively fast and easy. Glancing into the cupboard Naruto spotted the box of pancake mix, and knew that it would be perfect. There were even instructions on the side.

"How about," He said, grabbing the box and flipping it. "Waffles? We have a waffle maker, right?" He asked, and the two eldest girls nodded as Leo got up into his seat.

Naruto was mixing together the batter when he glanced at the kitchen clock and noted that it was six thirty and he hadn't heard a peep out of Kori since she had attacked him and then had closed herself into the bathroom, and then it occurred to him that he had better get Mino downstairs so that he wouldn't bother Hinata if he woke up.

He hurried into the living room to grab the cradle swing and drop it into the kitchen, telling one of the twins -he didn't really notice which, though he hoped it was the more responsible Yuki- to stir the batter while he ran upstairs to grab the baby and check on Kori.

Taking a breath he shifted the quietly grunting Mino in his arms to knock on the bathroom door, taking another bracing breath to open said door when no answer came.

He barely had the time to block the first that was aimed for his throat.

Holding a baby and trying to fight of your daughter who was apparently on some type of crazy drugs was incredibly difficult, especially when you were trying not to hurt said daughter, so he had to take a couple hits in his shoulder and arm.

He had no idea what Lee had been teaching the girl in their little training sessions, but they were going to definitely have to have a talk.

Finally having enough of it Naruto grabbed her ankle when she came in for another kick and threw her across the hall and into her bedroom. He heard the thud of her body hitting the wall and could only wince, knowing for certain that Hinata was going to kill him if he had damaged either their oldest or their wall.

Peeking into the bedroom, Naruto watched as the blonde pushed her hair out of her slightly less bleary eyes, looking around in dull confusion.

"Whu'?" She managed to garble, and Naruto decided to push the fighting out of his mind and instead focus on this hopeful moment of lucidity.

"Kori! We only have," He glanced at her clock and nearly choked in shock, "Ten minutes to get to your school! Hurry up and get dressed!" He didn't wait for her to nod and just ran out of the room, jumping down to the first floor from the landing and then dashing into the kitchen to push the baby into the arms of one of the twins before racing right back to where his daughter was sluggishly tugging on the last of her clothes.

He grabbed her pack from beside the door and noted that Hinata had thankfully packed it the day before -God, he loved that woman- and then grabbed Kori, slinging them both over his shoulder as he once again skipped the stairs in favor of the faster way.

"I have to take Kori to school! Don't do anything your mother would say no to and don't bother your mother either. And be good!" Naruto told his other children as he hurried for the door.

"What about breakfast?" Yuki asked him, struggling to get Mino into the cradle swing the way he was supposed to go in. Naruto paused and turned on his heel, lunging for the cupboard and grabbing two boxes of energy and granola bars before disappearing out the door before the other children could blink.

"I meant for us." Yuki sighed. Yuka nodded and then looked at the batter she was getting tired of stirring before an idea occurred to her.

"Hey, we could just keep on making the waffles."

"But we don't know how and we're not allowed to cook."

"The box has instructions and it's not cooking if we don't use the stove. It's... waffle making." Yuka declared, to which her twin nodded. After all, what could go wrong if they had instructions?

* * *

Naruto ran as fast as he could and managed to get to the school just in time, though the few seconds he had left certainly didn't give him any breathing room.

"Okay." Naruto said, setting Kori down and shoving her pack and the boxes of food into her arms. "Have fun and don't do anything... stupid. Like hitting people. Okay?" The blonde girl blinked, her drowsy eyes still not completely clear as she peered at her surroundings, but she still slowly nodded.

"Great! I'll see you later then." He said, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead before turning and jumping up to the roofs so that he could race back home before his other children had the time to do anything overly destructive.

Kori blinked a few times before looking down at the boxes of granola and energy bars in her arms, and with a shrug she opened one, pulled out a bar, and started eating it. Turning to the huddled group of tweens and teachers who were staring at her, having watched the entire thing with shock, she glanced over them with steadily clearing eyes and then held the boxes of bars closer as a sudden thought occurred to her.

"Mine." She managed to garble, glaring at the group distrustfully as they gaped at her.

* * *

Naruto didn't really know what to expect when he got home having left his children on their own, though it hadn't even been half an hour yet. Fire, though he prayed for the brief thought to not be true, was a definite contender. A flood was less likely, and he could only hope that they hadn't bothered Hinata.

Thankfully, none of those thins had happened.

And sadly, something else had.

The waffle maker was plugged into the wall and steam was coming from it, batter oozing out from the closed sides and down to the already liberally batter-smeared counter. Eggshells were scattered over said counter, along with bowls and spoons and... Oh good God, was that the entire box of mix overturned all over the floor?

"What happened in here?!" He managed to gasp once his shock had marginally passed, hurrying to get a broom from the closet so he could start cleaning up the mess that the typhoon his children were had created.

"...We made waffles." Yuka hesitantly said, cutting the waffle that she had on her plate.

"And a mess." Naruto snapped, wondering how the hell he would ever return the kitchen to how it had been before his children had decided to completely destroy it.

"Sorry, but we were hungry and you left before you could make them yourself so we decided to. And then we had to mix more mix because we ran out of the first batch." Yuka defended, wondering at why her waffles were lumpy and had little balls of the batter mix unlike her mother's perfectly made ones.

"Fine, yeah, my bad." Naruto muttered, realizing that a great deal of the entire situation was his fault. Most of it, really, because he should have realized that leaving three hungry children who too often got "bright ideas" alone would surely lead to disaster.

It took him over an hour to clean up everything and keep track of the children and feed Mino (who he had completely forgotten until he had actually tripped over the little thing; it was freaky how quiet the baby was, especially when surrounded by the others). Once that was done Naruto tried sitting down, just for a minute, but apparently such a thing wasn't allowed because this was when one of the ANBU made his appearance.

"Yes, Monkey, what is it?" Naruto asked wearily once he had sensed the man. A sudden and devious idea hit him to shove his children onto the ANBU for a couple of hours so that he could get some rest and properly take care of Hinata , and he was Hokage after all, he could do it if he wanted to. But, sadly, not only did he want to keep his promise to Hinata that he would take care of everything, he also wanted to keep his ANBU from retiring and making his work even more difficult.

Damn. Work.

"Eri sent you?" Naruto asked on a jaw cracking yawn, his body whining in protest as he sat up from his slump.

"Yes Hokage-sama." The ANBU answered, and Naruto nodded before making the hand signs, two of his clones popping up in front of him when he was done.

"Go with the ANBU." Naruto muttered as he waved them away, all three of them wincing at the yelling and then the crash that came out of the other room. The two clone Narutos got out of there really quickly after that.

With a sigh Naruto walked into the other room to see a broken vase on the ground -thank God there hadn't been any flowers or water in it- and two very guilty children standing by it.

"Wha-" Was all he could get out before they exploded.

"Leo was acting stupid-"

"No I wasn't!"

"And he wouldn't leave me alone or go up to his room, because he's _stupid-_"

"Nuh-uh! I just wanted to color Mommy a picture with you and you said that coloring was for babies! I'm not a baby and I ain't stupid, and you pushed me into the table!"

"Ain't isn't a word, _stupid._ And coloring is to for babies!"

"Nuh-uh! Nuh-uh!"

"Yeah it is, ask Daddy!" Yuka shouted, turning to their weary father with a victorious expression, her younger brother near tears, his bottom lip quivering.

"Coloring is not for babies." He told the girl, the smirk on her face dropping, "And your brother is _not _stupid,Yuka, and I do not want to hear you call him that again."

"Yes Daddy." She whispered, glaring down at the carpet resentfully.

"And you shouldn't push him either. Because you did you broke a vase and now I have to go buy a new on, and just because you're bigger doesn't mean you should bully him. Leo, I'll color with you, okay?" The boy smiled brightly and nodded, his tears disappearing.

Twenty minutes after cleaning up the shards of the vase (it was the ugly one they had gotten as a wedding present from someone in the Hyuuga clan, so he really wasn't that upset about it) and sending Yuka up to her room to sulk Naruto was sitting next to his fiery haired son in front of the coffee table, thick crayons and blank paper scattered over the surface as they made their pictures.

"Daddy?" Naruto turned to look at the more reasonable and sweeter of the twins. "When are we going to the library?"

With a sigh Naruto remembered that Hinata had said something about that, and he got to his feet. "As soon as everyone's ready, I guess." He said, only expecting it to take a good ten, twenty minutes. It never went over that when Hinata got them ready so he wasn't really expecting anything different.

How wrong he was.

Leo was easy to dress since Naruto only had to tug a t-shirt over his head and pull a pair of shorts up, and then hand him his sandals since the boy was insistent on knowing how to do it himself. Mino was even easier since all he took was a onsie and an already mostly packed baby bag, and then he was ready to be put in his stroller. He'd hoped that since the girls were older they'd be more self sufficient, but once again he found out that he was wrong. He was always wrong.

"Yuka, why can't you wear this shirt?" He asked her, holding up a pink T-shirt that he thought was really cute, especially with the little kitten on it. Thinking about it, he remembered that he'd actually bought her the shirt, and had been particularly proud of the find.

"Because, it's pink and the cat is weird. I don't even know where that _came_ from." She said, her nose wrinkled in disgust.

Well, there went his nice feeling ego.

Currently standing in front of the girls' closet they were trying to find a shirt for Yuka to wear because apparently the thirty shirts they had already been through hadn't been good enough, and dear lord they were about to go through them again.

"Here!" Naruto said, his hand diving into the dresser drawer desperately and pulling out a random blue tanktop. "Just wear this!"

The girl shrugged and took it, slipping it on, but then saying something about shoes she turned back to the closet, leaving her father to pull out his hair and restrain himself from screaming.

"Can you do my hair, Daddy?" Turning to Yuki, Naruto nearly tackled the child. She was dressed and had her shoes on, and she was asking him to something he could easily and enjoyably do.

"Of course." He said, taking the hair ties and brush from her, setting down on the closest bed and pulling her so that she sat between his legs. "What do you want?"

Tilting her head she thought it over for a moment, before nodding as she came to a decision. "Pigtails." She told him, pointing to two high points on her head so that he'd know where to put them. A few minutes later Naruto was calmer and was smiling, and the girl's long hair was done to perfection.

"Daddy!" Leo cried as he hobbled into the shoe, one foot mysteriously bare while the other was in his sandal. "I can't find my shoe!"

There went the smile.

"You had it just a minute ago! And how did you only lose one of them?" The boy shrugged.

"Dunno." He said, half hopping, over to his father, "But I can't find it. Find it Daddy."

With a sigh Naruto lightly pushed Yuki off of the bed and started to get up. He could just tell that this little search was going to be _fun _and _long. _"Okay, fi-"

"No! First you have to do my hair too, Daddy!" Yuka shouted, plopping herself down on the spot where her sister had previously sat. Naruto wanted to growl or shout or curse, or just do anything to get rid of some of his frustration but he held himself back, reminding himself that not only were they children -_his_ children- but that Yuka was also kind of right. It wasn't fair for him to do Yuki's hair and not hers.

"Leo," He sighed, "I'll help you look for it right after I do Yuka's hair. Why don't you and Yuki go brush your teeth first so that we can go soon, okay?" Because he happened to know that they would take just long enough for him to fix Yuka's hair, and that Yuki would keep Leo from making a mess. On that thought, he hadn't brushed his teeth yet.

He hadn't even ate yet.

The two marched out and down the hall to the bathroom, leaving Naruto vulnerable to the demands of his daughter -no, I want that braided and pulled back; no Daddy, you're doing it wrong; Daddy, you're _pulling _my _hair!_

When he was finally done with her he sent her to the bathroom, which Leo was thankfully stepping out of so there wouldn't be a fight. He started down the stairs to go on the quest for Leo's shoe -seriously, he'd had it maybe five minutes before he lost it- but halfway down his foot snagged on something and he tripped, beginning to tumble down the stairs.

Thankfully -and mostly due to training and instincts- he managed to catch himself on the banister and flip himself over, landing on the first floor with only a bruised knee.

Cursing under his breath and rubbing the spot as his quick healing played it's hand and took the initial sting out of it, Naruto lightly limped over and looked up the stairs to see what had tripped him.

Well, he had found Leo's shoe.

"Leo! Girls! Come on!" The three of them scrambled down the stairs with the grace and the volume of a stampeding herd of cattle, and with a sigh he could only usher them out the door and grab Mino -who was resting quietly in his stroller- and the baby bag, making their way out of the house and down the path to the village.

Walking at a slow but steady pace, it should have only taken them fifteen minutes, tops, to come out the other side of the path. But he had obviously been too naïve because with his children he was finding that absolutely nothing would keep them on track.

Yuki and Yuka found some flowers, so they obviously had to run off the track and pick them, though he couldn't say anything to that since they said they were getting them for Hinata. And then Leo found a rock, although according to him it was a special rock, so he slipped it into his pocket along with who knows how many pebbles- and why the boy wanted rocks, he had no clue.

Mino started to make a fuss about halfway down -about the same time that Yuka and Leo started to try and beat each other at tree climbing while Yuki just sat by and plucked at the grass- and knowing that there had to be a reason for him to act that way Naruto stopped and found that the boy was wet.

Laying down a little blanket on the ground, Naruto started changing him only to be interrupted by Yuki pulling at the back of his shirt.

"Daddy," She said, and when he glanced at her he saw the girl lightly crossing her legs and holding on to the front of her shirt with both hands, wriggling in a very distinctive way, "I have to pee."

Shit. "Why didn't you go at home?" Naruto asked as he wrestled with the suddenly squirmy Mino.

"I didn't have to go at home." The girl said, blinking her big powder blue eyes at him, "But I have to go _now._"

"Well, go behind a tree or something." Naruto growled out, glaring at the little fastening on Mino's onsie that just wouldn't fasten. This comment earned him a gasp from the other twin and a silent watery eyed plea from the one behind him.

"She cant do that! She's a girl!" Yuka practically shouted, to which Leo grinned at her competitively.

"Well, I'm a boy, so I can and I'm gonna!" The red head declared, dashing out behind a tree and leaving his father to hang his head as he wondered what the hell was wrong with his children. How could they make _peeing_ into a competition?

"Yuki, Yuka," He managed once the disbelief had passed, "You're wanting to be kunoichi, right?" He asked them, looking up to see the two girls nodding their heads. "Well, do you really think that they're going to have bathrooms that they stop at on missions?" The girls thought about it for a moment before dejectedly shaking their heads and mumbling their 'no's.

"Umm..." Yuki hesitantly looked towards the trees as if something were about to jump out and attack her. "Daddy, can you come with me?"

With a sigh Naruto shoved to his feet, leaving Mino lying on the blanket for a moment -it wasn't like he was going to get up and walk away- before heading towards the tree line with Yuki, glancing back over his shoulder to make sure that Yuka hadn't gotten another one of her bright ideas and had randomly disappeared.

According to his daughter they had to go far enough into the trees so that they couldn't see the road -just in case anyone could _possibly_ be watching- and then Naruto had to back up about ten feet and then turn around and close his eyes. It was during this process that Yuka showed up, dashing past him and declaring that she had to pee too -really, he had to wonder at what their bathroom at home was for- and telling him not to peek.

They hurried back to where the stroller, Mino, and hopefully Leo were waiting for them, and once they got there Naruto tried to count to ten, remembering hearing somewhere that it helped with controlling anger.

It didn't.

"UZUMAKI LEO, WHY ARE YOU POKING YOUR BROTHER WITH A STICK?!" He boomed as his patience cracked, making all of his children jump back, especially his oldest son who was for some unknown reason poking Mino with a branch he had probably found while wandering around to get back after his bathroom break.

"I dunno." The boy managed, his eyes filling with tears after his father's loud and scary outburst. "I wanted to see if he wanted it."

Naruto didn't bother asking what a three month old would want with a stick. He just shook his head, told him not to do it again, and slipped Mino back into the stroller where the aggravated baby immediately calmed down. Apparently, he hadn't liked getting poked with a stick. Go figure.

They made the rest of the walk in a sulking silence, and Naruto began to breath easier once they started up the walk to the library. It was the _library_, how much trouble could his kids actually get in, really?

He really needed to stop assuming these things.

Leo, getting over the shock of his father's outburst, went with his father to the kids corner so that he could play with the train set and the blocks they had lain out there. He even tried to apologize to Mino by putting some blocks in the stroller with the now sleeping baby. It was adorable and sweet, and Naruto only turned long enough to look at the book Yuki had decided to show him about foxes, but it was more than enough time. When he turned back it was to see Leo at the very top of the shelf, leaning out to try and grab the stuffed dragon that hung from the ceiling.

"Leo!" He shouted as ten years of his life were suddenly and painfully scared from him, the boy leaning out just a bit further... just a_bit_ further... reaching just a _bit _farther until he snagged the toy.

And that was when he leaned out just a bit too far and slipped.

"_LEO!_" Naruto shouted as the boy dangled so far up off of the floor. So far. Too far. Supported only by the three thin and straining strings that held the toy aloft. Acting as quick as he ever had Naruto jumped up and balanced on one of the shelves with a single foot held on by chakra, reaching out, hoping that he'd be fast enough to save them both the pain of tiny broken bones or worse.

The strings snapped free from the ceiling, the extra weight too much for them to bear, and Leo fell, his wide eyes not completely understanding.

But thankfully the fall landed him into his father's secure arms, the man jumping down to the ground and holding the boy desperately close before jerking him back to send him the most fear filled and glaring look he had ever had.

"Don't you _ever _do anything like that again! Do you understand?" The boy jerkily nodded, tears starting up from the fear now that the actual event had passed, and Naruto pulled him close again.

He didn't think that he had ever been more scared than in that moment where his son had been suspended in the air.

Looking up he saw a slack jawed librarian, and he was quick to make apologies as he stood, Leo clinging to his neck like a burr. In the middle of his apology to the very understanding elderly librarian he was interrupted by sudden shouting, and he could do nothing more than hang his head in shame as he recognized one of the voices.

Both he and the little librarian walked around the shelves blocking their way and looked towards the circulation desk where one of the librarians was apparently about to get into a brawl with a matching set of two familiar little girls.

Walking up to them, his hold on Leo and his restraint firm, Naruto could only hope that the didn't get kicked out of the library. He _really _didn't want to go home and explain that to Hinata.

"Girls," He interrupted, three sets of eyes snapping to him as he stepped forward. "What's going on here?"

"She won't let us check out our books!" Yuka declared, glaring at the librarian like she wanted to attack her while Yuki nodded and glared, looked like she wanted to cry from the aggravation. Looking at the sizable little pile of books the two girls had accumulated, Naruto tried to figure out why they were even bothering to fight over books and then act like they were defending everything they believed in while doing so.

"Um..." Naruto managed, looking towards the librarian and hoping for an answer as to _why _they weren't allowed to check out books when they were in fact in a library.

"They can only check out seven books apiece, Hokage-sama." The woman growled, "I have explained this to them each time they have come here and yet they always get the rules bended just because they are who they are. I do not feel like allowing this to happen again."

Naruto nodded before glancing down, wondering if the two girls had even realized that they were holding their position as the Hokage's children over the heads of others to use as a tool. And even if they didn't, it was still wrong for them to be allowed the special allowances regardless.

"I understand," He said, and he saw a brief flash of victory flash over Yuka's face as she smirked, believing that her father was going to side with them and make the woman give them their books. "And I have to ask you to keep restraining them," The look fell, "They don't need the special treatment, so thanks for taking care of it." The woman nodded before turning with her nose in the air, flouncing off to catalog books or something to that nature while leaving the brave Hokage to the mercy of his daughters.

"Daddy! How _could _you?" Yuka gasped, thinking about all of the books that she and her sister would now have to leave behind.

"Yuka, no one else is allowed to take out all of those books, so why should you? Just pick out your favorites and check out the rest some other time." He told her, and the seven year old pouted but assented.

Naruto slumped in relief as the girls began to pick through the little mountain they had managed to scavenge. He'd averted yet another crisis, and seeing how much the girls enjoyed the library (other than the librarian who refused to follow their orders), Naruto thought about maybe taking the girls down to the Yondaime's library that had been found a few months ago. They might like it.

Now, all they had to do was get out of here and they were home free.

"Who's baby is this?!"

Damn it.

* * *

"Daddy, can we go to the playground?" Leo begged as they passed by the brightly colored play equipment.

Remembering that Hinata had told him to remain firm and just say no, Naruto shook his head.

"Sorry Buddy, but we don't have the time. We need to grab some groceries." The little boy pouted and looked back at the nearly sparkling sight.

"Please? _Please?_ Please Daddy?" The other two looked back at him with a similar plea on their faces and Naruto could only give in.

"Alright, alright. Fifteen minutes, got it?" The boy ran of with a whoop of joy, the girls racing after him as they fought to get to the swing-set first. Naruto maneuvered the stroller onto a concrete path that led to a pair of benches, and he sat down with a weary sigh. He had thought that he had been tired last night but nothing could ever compare with how tired he was right then and there, sitting on a plastic park bench. And the day wasn't even over with yet.

He decided to go ahead and take care of Mino now that he had a minute, changing him again and then feeding him one of the bottles that were nestled safely in the baby bag, apologizing to the boy for forgetting him.

About twenty minutes later Naruto situated the baby back in the stroller, standing up and stretching out the kinks that those few deceptively comfortable moments of rest had given him. "Kids!" He called, watching as dozens of little eyes snapped towards him. "Ah... Yuki! Yuka! Leo! Time to go." There, that got the other kids to turn away.

The girls came slowly, apparently having found a friend they were having fun with, but they came and they only looked a little worse for wear, some flyaway hairs having come loose and some mulch bits sticking to their knees and hands.

Leo, however, looked as if her had fought some kind of wild battle with nature. There was mulch sticking to not only the skin of his knees and hands but also both of his legs and arms, even more covering his clothes to battle with the fresh dirt and grass stains. There were bits of it in his hair along with blades of grass, and a leaf was sticking out of the wild mass like a crown. The boy grinned, the scratches on his arms and face standing out against the filth, and he raced towards them as if his appearance was normal.

Okay, so he shouldn't have gone to the park.

Shaking his head Naruto merely turned and started back up the path, not even bothering to attempt to clean the boy up with the wet wipes Hinata kept in the baby bag. It just really wasn't even worth the effort.

"Come on," He said, praying for the day to just get over with, "We need to go get some groceries." And then home. Beautiful, peaceful home.

"I'm hungry." Leo declared.

Of course he was.

The other two were quick to say the same and Naruto just turned to go to the nearest source of food, which was apparently a kushiyaki stand. After ordering they continued to walk towards the grocery store, and Naruto looked down just in time to see some of the juices from Min's meat drip down his chin and onto his shirt to further ruin it and add to the image of him being some child raised in the wilderness.

He didn't bother to react to the glances he and his son got for the boy looking that way, he just walked into the grocery store and grabbed a cart, giving it to the girls to push while Leo held on to the side and "guarded" it -Naruto was surprised and ecstatic to find that this ploy of keeping his children all in one place _actually _worked.

They got the basics of what Naruto knew for sure that they needed and then he just sort of winged it, looking around for something that would hopefully help Hinata, but nothing on the shelves screamed out "FEED THIS TO YOUR SICK WIFE AND SHE'LL FEEL 10X BETTER!"

Becoming somewhat desperate, especially when he saw that the kids were starting to get antsy, he turned and saw a woman with a vest that claimed her as an employee to the place and Naruto just barely stopped himself from tackling the woman and _begging_.

"Do you know what helps sick people? Like eating and stuff?" He asked before the woman could get the first syllable of her _"__May I help you?"_ speech out. She blinked, but seeing the stress and tiredness in his eyes and the disarray of his children, she obviously took pity on him, not recognizing him for who he was.

"Well, salt is good, like pretzel sticks and crackers. And ginger-ale is supposed to help too. Chicken noodle soup is a big one, and toast works pretty well too." She told him gently, and Naruto almost cried. He could do those things. He could absolutely do those things.

Finally, after twenty more minutes of searching for the things she had instructed him to get and then standing in the checkout line, Naruto was heading home, tugging the now lagging kids with him.

As soon as they were home Naruto put the groceries up and then he stripped Leo, throwing his clothes into the washer and the boy into the bath, scrubbing him until all of the dirt that had previously been on him was staining the water. Then it was releasing him to play, reading a book to the girls and Mino, and then fixing some of the soup he had gotten for everyone (thankfully there were instructions). When he pulled Leo's clothes out from the washer -which he had hoped would get rid of the evidence of the very bad decision he had made; it didn't- he found rocks of all assorted shapes and sizes scattered about, lodged in the little holes that lined the tumbler.

Deciding that banging his head against the wall hadn't worked, Naruto just turned and left the laundry room dejectedly.

After settling everyone into their rooms and telling them to just go to bed when it was time Naruto shuffled into his and Hinata's bedroom, tray in hand.

Hinata was laying back in bed with a bag a pretzels at her hip, nibbling on them as she flipped through one of the books that she had squirreled away for a rainy day, looking much more relaxed and healthier, the dark bags underneath her eyes now almost completely gone and her natural flush once again painting her cheeks. She looked up when she heard him and smiled, marking her place in the book.

"I brought you soup." Naruto moaned, setting the tray on her lap and then crawling into the bed beside her, nearly whimpering at how wonderfully good it felt to finally be laying down.

"Thank you, Naruto." She said, laughing lightly at his antics. "I've been a little hungry since I haven't thrown up in a couple of hours, plus my temperature has gone down so I'll probably be ready to get back into things tomorrow."

"That's great. Perfect. Really." He turned his head to look at his wife as she carefully sipped at the hot soup. "You know, you're absolutely amazing." He told her, watching as her smile grew and her cheeks flushed a bit deeper.

"How were the kids?" Hinata asked, and Naruto could only close his eyes so that she couldn't see the horror in them.

Heavy moments of silence passed in which Hinata stared at him questioningly before Naruto could finally answer without his voice cracking or wining.

"Is... Is it like that everyday? Do you deal with that _every day_?"

Hinata laughed again at how dramatic he was being. "Naruto, I won't be able to answer if you don't tell me what happened."

"Well... Kori attacked me, the other three destroyed the kitchen, Yuka and Leo broke your vase, Yuka couldn't decide what to wear, Leo lost his shoe and then I tripped on it on the stairs, Yuka and Yuki had to use the bathroom outside and Leo poked Mino with a stick; Leo fell off of a stuffed dragon, Yuka and Yuki got in a fight with a librarian, and I kind of forgot Mino -but I got him! Don't worry. I took the kids to the park -you really need to give more warning to a person than just to not do it, Hinata- and now the washing machine looks like it tried to eat a pissed off boulder."

Hinata could do nothing more than blink at him before covering her mouth, trying not to laugh at his predicament since she could see how obviously distressed he was but she was failing horribly, choking gurgles of laughs slipping past her guard. Finally giving in to it she dropped her hand and laughed until she had to wipe at the tears that pricked her eyes.

"O-Oh, it isn't always that bad." She finally managed to say, "Kori is always violent when she wakes up and you bother her. She doesn't even realize she's doing it, so you just need to know how to restrain her a bit. I'm usually in the kitchen when the kids are in there, so there's no destroying only because I stop it. I'll just clean out the washer, but you always need to check Leo's pockets because he always sticks little things -like rocks- in there. Everything else sounds pretty normal, though you'll have to explain the story about the dragon to me later." Naruto nodded and sighed as he finally, _finally, _started to relax.

And this was when his two clones dispelled.

An entire days worth of paperwork, meetings and dull talks -multiplied by two- rushed into is mind like a suffocating and disorienting tidal wave. Page after mind-numbing page of paper filled with monotone words flashed before his eyes at once until all he could see was the stark white of the paper and a smear of black ink that trailed along the surface in a complex and impossible maze.

Groaning, Naruto didn't even try to open his eyes in an attempt to dispel the vision, already feeling the throb of the migraine that would, as soon as he opened his eyes, leave him feeling like his skull was being hollowed out with a dull and rusted hot poker.

"Naruto?" He heard the soft murmur of his wife's voice and instinctively turned towards her for comfort, groaning at the soothing touch of her hand as it pet his hair. "Naruto, what's wrong?"

Hearing the concern in her voice Naruto swallowed a few times in an attempt to get the dry sandpaper that was his throat to work, managing after two or three tries. "Work... Clones." He croaked out, actually whimpering in thanks as Hinata sat aside her tray and sat his head in the newly vacated spot on her lap.

"You poor baby." She crooned, and Naruto made a sound of agreement in the back of his sore throat. He felt bad for having her doing all this for him while she was still sick, but the way he felt left him no room to argue.

They sat there like that for a few minutes before Hinata finally asked in an effort to get Naruto's mind off of his pain, "Did Kori have fun on her school trip? I remember that she was really excited about it." Naruto groaned again, though this time it wasn't from his more than painful migraine.

"Son of a _bitch_."

* * *

_In the village, in front of the school_

Kori looked up at the dark sky and figured that she should probably start going home. Her mother and father had told her to never walk around with out someone after dark, but she had fallen asleep in one of the classrooms when they had gotten back from their day trip earlier and hadn't woken up until just now.

But for some reason no one had come to get her or search for her earlier. Maybe they had forgotten?

Figuring that it would probably be best to just wait so she didn't get in trouble, Kori settled back on the tired little swing and started tracing pictures on the stars.

Someone would come to find her.

Eventually.

* * *

And there we go!

The food they were eating (Kushiyaki) is grilled meat on a skewer, which sounds delicious and like shish kabobs and now I want a shish kabob (or kushiyaki. either or.) One with chicken and onion and pepper and mushrooms and shrimp and Mmmmm...

Well, now look what you've made me do.

I also managed to answer a comment from my little systemman (who I'm thinking is a man. Just a little feeling I'm getting) that went:

**"I am surprised that Naruto doesn't use Kage Bushins to free more time to spend with his family. Since their memories return to him when they are dispelled it would make things easier."**

And yeah, it would be easier, but the thing is that _all_ of their memories get returned to him. Naruto doesn't really seem like someone who would have a natural talent for paper work (he'd probably rather burn it than do it), so I see headaches and tiredness abundant. Add in a clone with a rush of memories coming at your head like a bat to a pinata and you've got yourself a migraine, my friend.

Okay! I've been neglecting saying hello to my new sweet hearts, so here we go (if you're on here and I have already mentioned you before, I either forgot or think you're_ extra_ special):

odraudekire, Thank you my dear! You're comment helped a bit with the anxiety.

adiosToreador, Ahahahaha! A supporter! Thank you!

mightysmart97, You're such a sweetie, making me blush with your kid words. I'll get on your idea as soon as possible, sweet little dear one.

Pandatron, Thank you, and I do have fun writing these, and it just brightens up my day when lovely people like yourself tell me that they enjoy my writing as much as I do. And I do have a lot of ideas pertaining to Kurama and Naruto's relationship, so I'll write something just for you one day ;P

X-Venom, Thank you for the Mino love! I agree the poisoning was a bit... much, but Mino understood that it wouldn't do any permanent damage to his siblings and he also knew that it would be the perfect way to get back at them and get them to stop. All of the ruckus was starting to annoy him. And I'll definitely write more of Mino and Kaya because I love them so much.

Also, to my old sweetie Hektols: Love the new picture! It's so cute!

Things new with me: Getting ready for prom, getting ready for my AP test, trying to get my mom's party for my graduation together (it's more for her than for me. She wants a party, I don't, so I'm an excuse), reading T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland (This poem is astoundingly complex and long. I love it, it is so cool). Also thinking about wearing shorts now that it had started to warm up.

Oh Great Gatsby! This is my 90th actual chapter! We're almost to 100!

See you soon!


	92. Dress Shopping

Hello! It's been so terribly long since we have seen each other, hasn't it?

What, it was like twenty hours, tops?

I would have got this to you last night but I needed to look it over for editing and I was tired, so i figured that it would be okay for you to wait just a little bit.

I had others I planned to write up and give you, but sometime between getting out of the shower and stepping out of the bathroom (probably about the time I was standing by the laundry hamper) I came up with this, and I needed to type it up. I had a whole number of fics that come out before this (the development of the feelings, who Anzu's getting married to, and a whole number of things) but hey, what ev's. I'll get to it eventually.

* * *

"I'm sorry you got dragged into this, Asuma." Anzu murmured to the slight man who was slumped down into the firmly cushioned leather chair beside her, his hands stuffed into the front pocket of his oversized hoodie. They were sitting in one of the little waiting areas of a fashionable little boutique, the curve of mirrors and miniature stage just waiting for someone to step out and take their place underneath the flattering lighting.

"Oh, it's fine." He sighed, staring at the far wall with disinterested half-lidded eyes. "The bride gets what the bride wants, after all."

Anzu sighed in return, looking towards the curtain that separated them from the currently occupied changing area. "Yes, thank you, but Ringo is certainly going to be challenging after this, especially since she'll say that you betrayed her. If she wasn't so bloody _difficult_ we could have done this the way it was supposed to be done, but instead we had to have you drag her here and then stay as insurance."

Asuma snorted and shifted, stretching his legs out and looking at the contrast between his beaten up sneakers and the pristine shine of the dark wood floors and the formal rug. "_'Challenging' _and _'Ringo' _go hand in hand, so I'll be fine. What you have to watch out for though is her sabotaging the little little things in you wedding and or life and pissing you off, because she will do that. She is most definitely not beneath that."

"You bet your ass I'm not!" Ringo growled from behind the curtain before Anzu could answer. Anzu just shook her head and smiled wryly.

"Really Ringo, you know that Mother is far too controlling over this to ever allow that, not to mention that the very thought of her wrath should you do anything should be enough to keep you in line." She let this sink in for a moment. "So... How does the dress look?"

There was only the barest breath of silence before the ever predictable explosion happened.

"God! I look so stupid! You know I look terrible in dresses, especially ones like this, so I really have no idea why you're making me do this. Wear _this._ I could wear pants, I'd even wear fancy pants." There was a beat of silence where she was probably looking at herself in the mirror. "For the love of all that is filled with happiness and unhealthiness, just let me wear pants."

Anzu snorted and crossed her arms over her ample chest as she stood, flipping the heavy weight of her wavy blonde hair over her shoulder with an arrogant toss of her head. "Ringo, this is my wedding and I happen to want both of my sisters to wear dresses when they stand beside me. So pull on your big girl panties, suck it up, and get out here."

There was some grumbling and a number of more mentions on how ridiculous she looked and the threats she would carry out, but a minute or so later the curtain was angrily pulled back to reveal Asuma's best friend in the dress that she apparently detested.

The dress brushed above the floor with a rustle of elegant cloth, the pale and dusty gold color making the tan of her skin glow. It was sleeveless to show her toned arms and was modest with it's boat neckline, fitting to her slender curves and then simply falling to the ground once the cloth graced her hips. Not even the completely annoyed look on her face could take away from how amazing she looked.

Asuma blinked, noting that Ringo's mouth was moving and also that he wasn't registering any of her words, and he was surprised to find that he had somehow zoned out while looking Ringo over.

Seeing her in a dress -part of his original decision to come over along with doing Anzu a favor- was certainly turning out to be more than he had thought it would.

"-and I don't even know why you're making me wear heels. I'm almost six feet tall! Unless you want some me to bend over in your wedding pictures I suggest you find me some other shoes." Ringo ranted, turning to grimace into the mirrors, thus revealing her back to Asuma, the sight forcing his eyes to widen.

The modest and almost plain front was completely negated by the fact that the cloth fit so well to her torso for a reason, the fabric clutching to her sides and revealing the entire length of Ringo's back, the dress restarting only at the very edge of decency, revealing the curve of her neck and spine, sharp shoulder blades and two surprising little dimples right towards the edge of the cloth. He skin was clear, her body firm from her training, and he knew it better than probably anyone else due to how close they had been practically since birth.

But he had never looked at her back before -or any back for that matter- and thought that it was beautiful. It was a little weird, he could not deny that, but he also couldn't deny that it was a truth.

"Yes, yes," Anzu finally said, waving her sister's words away, "Life is terrible and you can't stand being a girl, we _know._ Just be quiet for a minute and step up on the pedestal for us, will you?"

There was more grumbling involved but she moved forward, and as she skipped the little steps to just instead step up without any assistance -probably just to try and annoy Anzu- a slit Asuma hadn't noticed before opened to allow her leg the freedom it needed for the stubborn action, and suddenly he was worried he was going to have a heart attack.

He'd always had a thing for her legs -a mostly secret thing, but still a thing. They went on forever, wearing the title as the majority holder of her height proudly. They were toned and sleek after training and racing from place to place on their missions, and on the summer days when it was especially hot in their little apartment and the damned air conditioner was on the fritz -as always- she would walk around in these little short shorts that barely covered what was necessary and then made his tongue nearly hang out of his mouth like some kind of pervert or dog.

But as that leg was revealed like a particularly special present by the cunning dress, the delicately strapped gold heel on her foot making the whole sight near irresistible, Asuma had to stop himself from doing something especially wrong like groaning or begging. The staring was bad enough.

All he could manage to think was, _God bless that dress._

Ringo huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head so hard that her pony tail whipped around. "Anzu, I look so stupid that it's unbelievable."

"No you don't!" The younger gasped, looking up at her in shock and wondering at how she could not notice how amazing she looked. "And if you don't believe me, then ask Asuma."

"Fine! Asu-chan, what do you think of the dress?" Ringo asked, turning quickly and furiously, the dress flaring out slightly as she spun. The girl was obviously looking for an ally but Asuma's mouth worked faster than his brain was able to and he found himself blurting out the first thing that entered his mind.

"I think it's sexy." He told her simply, wanting to melt down into the seat from the heat of his embarrassment as soon as the words had left his mouth.

"Well... Well uh..." Ringo managed, turning back to look into the mirror again in an attempt to hide her blush from the boy, though with the multiple mirrors right in front of her it didn't help.

Anzu grinned with delight and an almost mad glee, almost unable to wait to tell her mother and other sister -who were at the other side of the boutique looking at accessories- what had just happened. But first she had to deal with the priority of her wedding.

"So, yes to the dress?" She asked, the brunette nodding and trying to calm down enough to get her skin tone back to normal. "Great! Now get out of it so we can take care of it." She demanded, pulling her sister off of the pestle and then pushing her back into the dressing room.

When she was finally released nearly forty-five minutes later, Ringo started back to the apartment she and Asuma shared and was unable to think about anything else other than his words.

_I think it's sexy._

Was he only talking about the dress?

_I think it's sexy._

Or maybe he was talking about her.

_I think it's sexy._

Did he think that_she _was sexy? It would be a first, definitely.

Deciding it would be best just to leave that question for another day, she shrugged her shoulders and kept on walking, Asuma beside her the entire time.

* * *

Yep. No idea where this came from. A big influence was probably all of the _Say Yes to the Dress _and _Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids _I watched over spring break (I love me some dressy shows).

I've known since the beginning that Asuma and Ringo would get together, and I also knew that Asuma would have a thing for Ringo's legs (she's got some really great legs). The back thing... I don't know. It's not like he has a fetish or anything, he's just attracted.

Info I should probably give you: They are not dating here, just starting to explore their feelings. They are roommates, and are still best friends. Ringo is probably about 5 foot 11 inches (180.3 centimeters for people using the metric system) and Asuma is more around 5 foot 6 inches (167.6 cintemeters) and he is still thin (he got some muscles though, so lets call him wiry) and Ringo really toned out (not bulked up. She's looks sort of like a runner)

Thank you all for the love, and I'm glad you liked the last chapter so much (it was my second longest, shorter than _Coming Back to You- Part 3 _by only one thousand words)

I'll be back my dear ones!


	93. Boxer Shorts

Hello my dears! I've had a busy little time recently, though more about that later.

The direction I was going towards for this was as an answer to TheCookieMonster77's request that I:

**"...should write about Ringo and Asuma moving in together..."**

But then Kathy veered me off of that path and instead sent me into the tumbling and terrifying jungle of thought that is my Muse's domain, and this was what came from it.

* * *

It was a sad fact of life that Asuma was used to Ringo sneaking into his bedroom during all hours of the day and night.

The first time she had got drunk -and he meant _completely _smashed- instead of heading home she had decided that his bed would obviously be better, and so she had come tumbling through his window in a long tangle of drunken limbs and then she had crawled into his bed with him. During the night she had managed to selfishly hog all of the covers and then she had somehow roped him into bringing her breakfast in bed the next morning because she had a hangover.

Then there were the times she came back from missions and didn't want to wake her sisters up, so she instead came to him because as her best friend he was someone she _could _wake up, and she always made a mess in his bathroom so that she could get cleaned up, and then she went around stealing his clothes and snacks. Sometimes after training he'd think she'd gone home only to find her in his room, laying on his bed reading his magazines or poking through his things.

He was used to Ringo invading his life. She'd been doing it since they were children, so he wasn't really bothered by it too much. But it did get annoying, especially when she woke him up from a particularly nice dream about a blonde kunoichi he'd been seeing for a few weeks. She wasn't too bad once you got her to be quiet for a few minutes, and she was three different types of beautiful, and the things she was doing in his dream were...

"Asuma."

He knew that the dream was gone, but there was a faint and stupid hope that maybe if he played dead she'd get distracted by something shiny and leave so that he could get back to his pleasant little dream.

"_Asu-chan~ Wake up~_" Great. She was doing the singing thing. That meant she wasn't going to leave.

"Ringo, we are far past the stage in life where it was acceptable for you to call me that. Go away, I'm tired."

There was a single beat of silence where he was able to hope that just _maybe _she had listened to him for once, but then she suddenly whipped his covers off of him, and he knew that a slow and suffering torture would be more merciful than this.

_"__Fuck!" _He managed to strangle out as he sat up quickly to drag a pillow into his lap, his voice squeaking in a very unmanly manner. His face flushed red in mortification and his pride began to weep as Ringo began to laugh, practically rolling around on the floor and holding her sides as if they were about to split open at the seam

Still holding his pillow and what was left of his dignity tightly, Asuma leaped out of bed and ran across the hall to the bathroom, careful not to slam the door because there was no _way _that he wanted his parents to come and investigate. He'd probably die if that happened.

Well, the shock and the laughter -as much as that had completely destroyed his pride- had managed to get rid of his hard-on, so he had one less problem to worry about. Now all he had to do was manage to die as quietly as possible from mortification.

"Asu." He heard a small voice say, following a quiet knock. "Asu, I'm sorry." He didn't bother to even bother to answer the little plea in her voice, he just sunk down to the floor and leaned back against the door, burying his face into his knees.

"I..." She sighed and tried to muster her courage, "I didn't mean to, you know, _laugh. _It was just from the shock, you know?" Silence. "It wasn't that I thought it was tiny, not that I have anything to compare it to since my virgin eyes haven't seen one of those before except in pictures, but I'm sure that you are very well endowed. I... I just want you to know that I was definitely _not _laughing at your size."

Asuma could feel his face flush incredibly hot as he squeezed his eyes shut and prayedthat for _once_ in her life Ringo would just shut up.

"Um... And then there's your boxers. I never really imagined you as a boxer person -not that I've ever imagined you in your underwear, of course. But they were very nice boxers. Kinda plain though."

Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

"So... How are you doing? You know, other than... You know."

Shut. _Up_.

"Hey, what were you dreaming of?"

"God Ringo!" He shouted as his head snapped up, "You don't just go around _asking _about that! What is _wrong _with you?"

There was a beat of heavy silence before he heard her sigh from the other side of the door. "Sorry. It's just that this situation is kind of awkward."

"Well, none of your questions are making it _any_ better!"

"Sorry." She said in a small, pouting voice. Asuma roughly dragged his fingers through his slightly tangled length of blonde hair before he hissed, knowing that there was nothing worse than a pouting Ringo. She got all gloomy and obedient and sad and he was so stupid that he was just going to forgive her to bypass that whole experience.

"It's... fine. Just no more questions. Okay?"

"Okay. I'll just forget that this entire thing ever happened."

Asuma sighed, thankful for that at the very least. He didn't want to go through any more of her questioning, especially when the answers would just embarrass them both further.

Especially since the blonde hadn't been the only one in the dream, and had been far from his favorite part.

He stood up with a grunt and mentally walked away from that trail of thought, turning and opening the door with the hope that they could really move past this experience. He looked down once the door was opened and found that Ringo had been sitting down in a mirror of his previous position, and as her eyes snapped up to him he released a thankful breath.

It was fine. They'd both move on and pretend that the last half hour hadn't happened, and they'd live happily in a world where neither of them had gone through this experience and-

And her eyes flicked down to where his sanity really wished they wouldn't go and she tilted her head in thought.

"Hey, it's gone." She said as if it were an amazing occurrence. His face flushed an even deeper red and he quickly swung the door that he had yet to release shut, slamming it right in her face.

This, of course, forced his parents to come out into the hall and check on things, and Asuma could only wish that he could just curl up on the cool floor and just die.

"What's going on?" He heard his mother ask, and even though it was useless to do so, he prayed. He prayed and he prayed and he-

"I saw Asu's stiffy and now he's embarrassed." There was a long moment of shocked silence that weighed down on Asuma like lead and cement, and Asuma tried to figure out if she had _really _just said that to his parents.

His _parents_.

And as his mother started laughing, long and loud, he could only grip his hair in a desperate hold as he tried to keep himself from going out and _killing _his best friend.

He heard his father sigh on the other side of the door. "Right, well we're going back to bed." He said, and Asuma could just see the man grabbing his mother's arm and tugging her back to their bedroom, and as he passed by the bathroom door he knocked lightly on the wood as if he were giving his son sympathy and strength.

God, he loved his dad.

After he heard his parents' door click close Asuma could only brace himself and open the door once again to an even guiltier looking Ringo.

"Okay," She started as soon as she spotted him, "I am _really _sorry about that. I just felt really nervous and it just kind of came out. I swear that I absolutely, positively did not-"

"Ringo," He interrupted wearily, leaning his head against the door way and trying to keep himself from banging it on the wood. "Why did you come here in the first place?"

"Oh!" Her eyes lit up as she remembered, "Well, you see, I found an apartment."

He waited a moment for her to continue on with that little tidbit of information but when she didn't he could only groan in defeat.

"Great. Wonderful. What does this have to do with waking me up in the middle of the night and completely mortifying me?"

"I was thinking that you could move into it with me and that we could be roommates!" She said, beaming at him. All he could do was stare.

"And all of _this_ was your way of convincing me?"

"Well... no. Things didn't exactly go the way I was planning." She said, dimming slightly, but then she grinned at him, once again confident and cocky. "But hey, the best things rarely do."

And that was all it took for her to completely disarm his anger and leave him standing before her amused and willing once again. He shook his head at her and moved past her, going back into his room in a silly attempt to move past everything that had just happened.

"And you don't see anything wrong with this plan of yours?" He asked as he got back underneath the covers.

"Nope." She went over to his dresser and opened a drawer, though she paused at a thought as it entered her mind, "Unless you and blondie want to shack up together?"

Asuma couldn't help but to snort and stare up at the ceiling.

"Nah. She's pretty and all but... She's... There's nothing really there." He finally said, glancing over at Ringo only to end up staring in shock as she pulled her plain black T-shirt up over her head to reveal a taunt stomach and firmly toned muscles that moved lightly with her every movement and breath, and also revealing that his best friend did not wear a bra.

Well, that was interesting. Very... interesting.

"Ringo!" He finally managed after a few slow moments of stunned ogling, and he couldn't decide if the noise he made was a yelp or a squeak.

"What?" She asked, turning to see her best friend practically plastered to the wall that his bed was pushed against, facing away from her. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"You and your... nakedness!"

Ringo stared at his huddled form for a moment before snorting, crossing her arms over her bare chest, unashamed and unembarrassed. "My nakedness?"

"Yes! Get rid of it!" She snorted again.

"Hold your horses, I'm just getting one of your shirts to sleep in. It's not like my _'nakedness' _is that big of a deal anyways since you don't exactly see me as a girl."

There was a moment of silence in which she shucked her jeans and pulled on a T-shirt that was a bit too big for her, and just as she slipped under the sheets behind Asuma she heard him sigh heavily.

"Ringo, it is impossible to see you as anything other than a girl."

And he said it so simply and with a deeper, underlying meaning in his words that she knew it was a truth, and she was glad that he was facing away from her since it meant that he couldn't see the way her face flared red.

She smiled lightly and snuggled down, trying to make sure that she didn't hog the pillow from him even though she knew that at some point during the night she'd manage to steal the pillow and wrap all of the blankets around her and seal poor Asuma out.

"So... you want to move in me, roomie?" Ringo asked, staring at the light skin of Asuma's back -a back that she had always found surprisingly firm and steady throughout the years- with a smile.

Asuma groaned and turned towards her. "I really don't know why I agree to these plans of yours. I mean, really, you'd think that after everything that I'd have learned that... Ringo, are you wearing pants?"

"Um..." She smiled at him, hoping to calm him down since she was all warm and comfy and snug and she really didn't want to move. "No."

"_Damn it_ Ringo, put on some damn pants!"

* * *

Tada! Definitely a lot different than I was heading towards originally, and a lot more crackish.

Well, I had my prom Saturday where I almost fell down concrete steps due to my heels and then numerous other times just due to not being able to walk in the stupid things (they came off as soon as I stepped into the building), and I danced for the first time with my friends. We stayed away from the giant hump-orgy on the dance floor and instead just danced stupid and crazy back against the wall, and we had a lot of fun.

I had my mother's macaroni salad for the first time (yum but for the onion and pepper) and I discovered the wonder of boob-stickers (Those things that make your dress stick to your boob. They are wonderful and amazingly strong).

I also posted my first separate fic (It's Soul Eater)! Go check it out if you're interested!

Hello to my new dear goldenagato! Hello!

See y'all later!


	94. All Grown Up, KakaSaku

Sorry this is later than usual, dearlings, but now that my AP testing is over with I can give you this!

Had a sudden idea, and so now I can give you this.

* * *

There were many things in his life that Kakashi had not been prepared for. The feelings that he had developed for the little pink haired girl who had once upon a time referred to him as "sensei" had been one such thing, while others went on to include finding out that Obito had been Madara and figuring out that he was getting old.

But the latest thing was perhaps the one that took that cake.

"What is _that?" _He asked his lovely little daughter who sent him a look that made him feel his age as she drank from her water bottle, sweat streaking her face from training.

"What is what?" She asked innocently enough, though he knew from the glint in her eyes she knew what he was asking about.

"_That_, Karin, what is that?" He asked, narrowing his open eye at her as he pointed to where her thin black tank-top had inched up her flat stomach as she had reached into one of the cupboards above her head for the plate he had asked her for. Or, more approximately, the glinting little stud that decorated a belly button he had believed to be bare until a few moments before.

She looked down and then rolled her eyes at him -she was really too much like her mother sometimes- taking another sip of water before sighing as if she was disappointed in him. "A bellybutton ring, Dad. It's not a big deal."

"Of course it's a big deal! Your putting that.._thing _into your body! It could have gotten infected or something, and what if it gets ripped out when you're fighting?" Another eye roll and she just walked past him to go out to the living room, passing Sakura as she went.

"Mom, talk to your husband. He's being an old stick in the mud." She said as she passed her, forcing the pink haired woman to smirk at her fuming husband.

"What's wrong?" She asked him, amused, watching as he pouted -that is, if Hatake Kakashi pouted, which he had assured her he didn't.

"Did you know that she has a bellybutton ring?" He asked her, and Sakura held back a laugh. Really, it was just too cute how he was always so defensive when it came to his little girl growing up.

"Yes, Kakashi. I was the one who took her to get it." She told him, unable to mask the amusement from her voice. He stared at her for a moment.

"Sakura, she's fifteen." She laughed as she moved around him to get to the sandwich he had been working on until Karin had dealt him such a crippling blow, finishing it up as she talked.

"I happened to be there, Kakashi, so I know when she was born. And this isn't that big of a deal. She came to me and asked me if she could, so I went with her to get it and made sure that there wasn't an infection or anything like that. It's just a piercing, and it isn't like it's some gateway to drugs and prostitution." She cut the sandwich in half and handed him one part of it, popping up onto the counter to eat her part.

"Well... Why couldn't she tell me about it? Or ask?"

She snorted, almost choking on the bite she had taken. "Really? You'd obviously say no, and she didn't think you'd understand that she just wanted something pretty. She can't go out and get her hair or nails done like normal girls, so she got something a little more permanent and durable."

Kakashi sighed and took a bite of the sandwich, and Sakura smiled sympathetically at him as she rubbed her foot up and down his leg slightly in a comforting manner.

"It's okay." She assured him, "It's just a little thing. She's not going to grow up all at once on you, and she's still the same little girl who used to sit up on your shoulders when we went out."

He sighed again but managed to smile crookedly at the memory, his eyes going to where he could see into the living room over the island that separated the two rooms. Karin walked back in from her room, her short hair escaping from the stub of a pony tail she had pulled it into and hanging around her face in damp strands. She was wearing a sports bra and knee length shorts, going over to the basket of unfolded laundry to pick up the tank-top she had apparently forgotten.

"Yeah, I guess you're-" He started to say, his eyes going to move away from his daughter until she turned her back to him and he saw the little purple dragon curling in the middle of the pale canvas that was her back.

"And what is that on your back, Karin?" He asked in an icy tone that made the girl flinch as she realized her monumental mistake. Sakura peered around Kakashi to see what he was asking about, and her eyebrows rose substantially when she noticed the girl's tattoo that she had had no part of or knowledge of what so ever.

"Yes," Sakura added, eyes narrowing in her anger, "Do tell."

Shoulders stiff, Karin cautiously turned until she faced her parents, wincing at just how angry they both looked. She wasn't going to get out of this one very easily.

"Oh, well, about that... Funny story." She said, attempting a smile and a half laugh. It didn't make the situation any better, and she suddenly noticed the slight twitching her mother's eye was doing.

She was _so_ screwed.

* * *

Yep. There it is.

The story behind the tattoo may one day be told (who am I kidding? I'm gonna tell it), but basically Karin's team was off on a mission that they did successfully (probably a decently high ranked one) and they all ended up getting tattoos (an _incredibly _bad decision for three fifteen year olds) which she then kept from her parents.

Oh, they are pissed.

(Also, a quick reminder that Rin is on Karin's team :P)

A note that I have nothing against piercings or tattoos, if you are perceiving that to be a part of this. I like both, though I wont get either. I am terribly afraid of needles and hyperventilate when I am near them (=no tattoos) and I'm just not the kind of person to have piercings on anywhere other than my ears (=no belly button)

See you soon my precious Percivals!


	95. Blessing or Curse, KibaEri

Hello dearies! Lovely seeing you! This one I've been working on for the past two weeks, but I kept getting stuck so I went on to write the last chapter, and then came back and finished this one up and then I edited it so that I liked it. I'm still not entirely happy with it, but it gets the stuff about the kids and the clan out there.

* * *

When Eri had been younger and more foolish, maybe around when she had been around ten or eleven, she used to dream about the perfect family. One where she had a father who she not only knew but would pick her up and place her on his shoulders like she had seen some civilian and other ninja men do when she was people watching. Her mother wouldn't be beautiful -she already had to suffer through one of those- but she'd be warm and would smile and hug her and love her.

She saw a white house with a big lawn and a really big and shaggy dog that would track mud into the house, but even though it was annoying there would be enough love for them to move past it with a smile. There would be gardens with bright flowers and neighbors that were willing to play, and during the summer they would play with a hose out in the yard just because it was fun and not care about the indignity of it.

The word whore would never be learned by too young ears, food would never be regulated because her mother felt that she was getting too fat and her mother would never measure her with frigid eyes that had never held even a single drop of feeling in them.

But this foolish dream had faded after the years, and Eri had accepted that nothing would ever come of any dreams of hers. Of course, she hadn't expected Kiba to come along, and with him and Akamaru and the years they had between them of friendship and love she had actually gotten her family -one that was so much better than her dreams- and she was truly happy for the first time in her life.

But this... this was going to ruin it. This _thing _growing inside of her was going to destroy everything.

"You're sure?" She whispered one last time, just to be certain. Just in case the world that was crumbling down around her could somehow be salvaged.

"Yep." Sakura said happily, "Your pregnant!" She grinned happily at the blonde, but the grin faded as she saw the blank and almost cold look on the other woman's face. "Hey, are you-"

"What are my options with aborting it?" She interrupted stiffly, making the pink haired woman visibly recoil.

"What?" Sakura asked, studying the woman with wide eyes. The two of them weren't close though they did get drinks together with the rest of the girls sometimes, but Sakura really wouldn't have pegged her to be like this. Not even questioning, asking as if she had no real option.

"Abortion. I have no plans for children." Eri spoke through frozen lips, her entire body stiff, her soul's cries muffled beneath the sound of her thundering heart.

Ignore it, she told herself, ignore it and be strong.

Sakura slowly turned away and opened a drawer, pulling out a couple of pamphlets before turning back and handing them to the other woman. "Here. But... before you decide anything you need to talk with Kiba, and I'm saying this as a friend, not the doctor you came to for your check up. You don't want him hearing about this from someone else. Not me," She said, noting the look in the other woman's pale eyes, "The nurses gossip like crazy, and something could eventually get out."

Eri took a bracing breath before nodding. "Yes... you're right. He should know, at the very least, before I terminate it." She slid off of the table and shook Sakura's hand in a polite and frigidly distant way before leaving, her heels clacking lightly across the tiled floor and then the concrete of the sidewalk as she made her way back to the apartment she and Kiba shared.

When she got there he was lounging back on the couch watching the television, Akamaru stretched out on the love seat. They both looked up as she entered and Kiba grinned at her, quirking his eyebrow questioningly.

"How'd the check up go? Are you still fit to file papers?" He snickered at his joke, and Eri just walked forward until she was sitting beside him, though a bit farther away than she usually would.

"When I was doing my clan's work, my period was suppressed so that I would be available to work at any time and so that I would not be able to get pregnant by an 'undesirable influence'. Of course, when I left the clan I could no longer go to the physician, and so my cycles restarted after a little while. They have always been unpredictable and spotty, maybe because of how long I went without one, and I have been far from regular."

Kiba blinked at her, trying to figure out why she was telling him all of this, but still nodded so that she knew he was listening. "Okay? Um... did they give you a pill for it or something?"

Eri shook her head and folded her hands in her lap. "It is because of this that I took very few precautions with you, and because of this I... I found out today that I am pregnant."

Silence. Silence and then suddenly Kiba took a nosedive towards her stomach and sniffed.

Okay. That was an odd reaction.

"I thought you've smelled a bit off recently but..." He mumbled to himself before chuckling. Suddenly he jumped off of the couch with a whoop of joy, picking her up by her waist to spin her around as her hands gripped his shoulders to keep herself steady. When he finally stopped he pulled back and looked up at her, grinning happily, and Eri smiled almost sadly as she framed his face with her cool hands.

"I want to have an abortion."

And that was all it took for everything to shatter around her like a house of spiderweb veined glass.

Kiba's eyes went wide as he dropped her, backing away a step to stare at her for a cracking moment before lunging forward, gripping her thin shoulders in a hard and punishing hold.

"_What?_"

"I said that I-"

"I heard what you said!" He roared, growing even more furious at just how frozen she looked. "What I want to know is why you want to kill our baby!"

Eri took a breath and steadily ignored the sharp claw-like nails that had grown slightly and were currently drawing blood. "It's not a baby yet." She said quietly, though she knew that he heard her.

"The hell it isn't! I can _smell _it, Eri, I can already tell that it is living inside of you!" He growled, low and dangerous, "And I'll be damned if I'll just let you walk out of here and kill it!"

"You can't stop me, Kiba. It is my body." She told him almost gently, her heart wrenching at the look he sent her. It was so angry and betrayed and hateful that it broke her heart and almost broke her will too. But she had to stay strong. She wouldn't change her mind.

The alternative was so much worse.

"And it's my baby!" He glared at her, gripping her shoulders even tighter and she knew that she'd have two identically dark bruises in the shapes of his hands, small crescent marks scabbing over in remembrance of his nails. "Why are you being such a frigid bitch about this?" Eri flinched slightly at his words. "Oh, so that's what it takes to get a response from you? You can stand there and say that you're going to kill our baby without batting a fucking eyelash, but I call you a bitch and suddenly you're hurt?" He laughed, a harsh and humorlessly bitter sound, and Eri felt her eyes begin to prickle with tears she refused to show.

This was all wrong. Nothing was going the way it should have, and it was all just so _wrong._

"Do you think that I'm _happy _about this? That this is _easy _for me?"

"Yes! Because it's obvious that you just don't care!"

"_THE HELL I DONT!_" She finally screamed, wrenching away from him to shove him back, hard. "This, choosing _this_, is the only way I can show that I care!"

They stood there for a few minutes, breathing harshly as they faced each other, both pairs of eyes determined and hard, though there was something breaking beneath the frigid heat in Eri's.

"This is the only way to protect it, because they'll take her from us." Eri finally whispered, begging Kiba to understand, to see that this was the right path and that he couldn't push her.

"Explain." He demanded, and Eri's shoulders slumped because she knew that the upcoming explanation was something she had never wanted to go share. Not even with him. Especially not with him.

"When I left my clan, it was impossible to leave completely. I'm still blood, and because of that I'm still connected to them. Not to mention that I have all of their skills and secrets so... I couldn't be let go of fully." She took a breath. "And so, the head made a deal with me. I could leave and live my life without ever contacting them again or going back, but if I ever had a child I'd have to give her up. I'd have to put her in my place." She let her eyes drift away from his in shame, afraid to see what he would think of her now.

"And I took it. I took it because I had to get free and I never planned on children or you. My plan was just to work and be somebody other than just another a whore in a family of whores." She blinked her suddenly tear filled eyes and looked down and at the carpet intently, staring at it's weave as if it held all of the answers in the world and would be able to take away her pain.

"Is there a way out of it?" Kiba asked, his voice calmer but still threaded through with anger. She shook her head, already hating what this situation was doing to them. "What about if I married you, brought you into my clan?" She bit her lip to keep from crying and shook her head again.

"To get married I'd have to go before the head and ask for approval, which would have never been given before this situation and it certainly wouldn't be given now that I'm pregnant. Plus, neither of us are really the marrying type." She laughed bitterly at the bad joke and then took a shuddering breath, noting that her hands were lightly trembling.

"There's no way out of this, Kiba."

They stood there for long, tense moments before Kiba straightened, a sudden idea coming to him. "You keep on calling the kid a 'she', and saying that your family will take 'her'. What if the baby is a boy?" This made Eri pause for a moment. She hadn't even considered a boy, especially since one hadn't been born into her family for generations.

"I... The clan has some men who work, but they're not as in demand as girls. I actually don't think anything in the agreement said anything about a boy, and it only specifically said that they would take any girls that I gave birth to." She shook her head as she looked up into his hopeful expression. "But Kiba, the chances of it being a boy are..."

He stepped forward and gripped her arms tightly, though it wasn't a roughly as he had done earlier. "Don't think about that. Just think _'boy'_ and you keep on thinking that. And even if it doesn't work I am going to fight for my kid, Eri. I'm going to fight like crazy even if it has to be against you."

Eri took a deep breath and nodded numbly, but she didn't even bother to allow a sliver of hope.

Because all this was doing was forcing her to fall in love with the flicker of life inside of her. All this was doing was building a beautiful brightness inside of her only to have it torn away as soon as it was born. And then the only way around that was to go back to the clan and leave Kiba, to once again become a shadow of a woman living in a world where the taste of shame was heavy on her tongue.

_Be a boy. Please be a boy._

They spent the rest of the day in silence, going about their regular activities with a dark cloud hanging over their heads and she she half expected a clap of thunder to clamor from it and force the gavel down on her life.

Later that night they both lay in bed together, silent but not sleeping, until Kiba's gravely voice broke through.

"What was life like, there? What..." He lead off, but Eri knew what he couldn't bare to say though.

'_What are we damning our child to?'_

_Please, please baby. Please be a boy._

"When I was little I was woken up at six every morning to go to my schooling lessons with the other girls, about five or six more, and we were given fruits and rice cakes for breakfast. After our schooling was done we went to whatever lessons we had that day which ranged from dressing to body language to vernacular and flower arranging. After that we usually had a salad and broth for the mid-day meal, and after out daily exercise we we weighed and measured. If they found that one of the girls had gained too much weight her diet and exercise regimen were immediately rectified. After that there were more lessons in conversations, and then we were sent out to town to people watch. We were usually asked to write about the interactions between the women and men, of the advances that worked and the looks. That was always my favorite time because I got to watch how all the normal little girls acted. At dinner we were given our protein, usually fish or chicken with nuts, and we were sent to out rooms to finish our self studies and go to bed." Eri took a shuddering breath.

"Though that was only up until I turned twelve, and then the lessons had to be changed for my sexual theories classes, and even more at fourteen, though the clan head thought that it could have been done earlier since I looked more mature than the other girls. After my virginity had been rectified by an appropriate man, one of the chosen bed mates within the clan, I had to shift more towards night classes in the weekends to accommodate the partners I was given to train with."

They lay there together and yet apart for a few more moments before Kiba rolled over so that he faced her, settling his arm over her abdomen protectively.

"It'll be fine." He said harshly, almost desperately, "None of that will happen."

"Okay." She whispered, turning her face away so he wouldn't see the doubt written so clearly on it. She didn't want to take his hope away, not when at least one of them needed to have it.

_Please baby._

_Please, for me._

_Please be a boy._

* * *

"Are you ready to see your baby?" The chipper little doctor asked, cheerily getting everything set up with a sunny little smile on her face. Eri couldn't decide if the woman was just blatantly ignoring the tension in the little room or if she was actually that dense.

It hadn't been a tense few weeks between the couple, and Eri knew that Kiba was trying to move past her idea about the abortion now that he understood a bit better, but it was hard for them to just move past it all. Kiba still couldn't get over the fact that she had wanted an abortion without even fighting for their child and Eri couldn't move past the knowledge that she wouldn't even have the time to fight for her child.

It was just so hard.

"I..." Eri glanced over at Kiba's excited face and knew that there was no getting out of it, "Yes."

The doctor spread the warmed gel over her still flat abdomen and then started to move the little receiver to the ultra sound around, staring at the screen as she did so. "AAAAAnd..." She drew out, smiling excitedly as she settled into one spot and turned the screen towards them. "There's your baby!" She said, pointing.

It was a little blobby thing, just this little smudge of a blobby thing, and as Eri sat there staring at it, trying to figure out if it was _really _her child, the doctor flipped a switch and suddenly the room was filled with the sounds of a flutter of a heartbeat.

And it was _beautiful._

Reaching out blindly, unable to take her eyes off of the screen and what was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen, she grasped Kiba's hand when he gave it to her and fell head over heels in love.

She had tried to stop it, telling herself that it would only hurt when they took her baby away, but staring at that beautiful little blob and listening to the sound of her child's heart she knew that it was impossible now not to tumble over the razor edge of the cliff.

"Hmm..." The doctor said, making Eri snap her eyes over to her in a sudden moment of fear at what that sound could mean. Could there be something wrong with her baby?

"Well, it looks like you're going to be welcoming two... three little bundles of joy!" The doctor said chipperly, and Eri could only gape.

Three? _Three_ babies? That was two more chances of her heart being broken. Two more little people she would love and then hate at the same time just for loving them so much as they were taken from her.

She couldn't do it. She really couldn't. It was going to destroy her and leave her scattered as jagged shards and pieces that would take her years to put back together, if she ever could.

"I'll just leave ya'll alone for a minute, but I'll be right back and you can ask me whatever questions come up." The little woman said as she bounced up to practically skip out of the room, closing the door behind her, and as soon as the click signaled that it was closed Eri turned towards Kiba with wild eyes.

"Kiba, I can't! They... it's too much! There are three of them and if I loose even _one _of them it's going to ruin me! You can't do this to me, and you can't force me-" He stopped her by pulling her off of the bed and into his lap, forcing her face into his throat and wrapping his arms around her.

"Calm. Down. Nothing is going to happen and we're not going to lose even one of these kids, ya' here me? Not only are we going to fight like hell to keep them with us, but do you really think that Naruto is going to let anything ruin his best assistant? He'll fight off an entire shinobi nation if it means keeping you doing his paperwork." He said roughly, and though she felt her lips twitch into a smile there was no real feeling behind. She was filled with too much fear to feel anything else.

She took a shuddering breath and burrowed deeper into him, closing her eyes as she tried to reassure herself that everything would be fine. That nothing would go wrong and that her baby -_babies- _would stay with her, where she would hopefully never let them go. That her fragile heart would never be broken in such a horrible way.

"I'll leave you." She whispered fiercely, gripping his jacket tightly in her damp fist, "I'll leave you if even one of them are taken away from me. I'll be sorry but I will_leave_."

There wasn't even time enough for her to take another breath before he tightened his hold around her and whispered into her hair, "I know."

And with those two words, spoken in that grave tone, she knew that she wasn't the only one that was utterly terrified at how this could turn out.

* * *

Eri was in the middle of writing out the sick leave reports on all of the on duty shinobi as well as the administration when a sudden and ironic bout of nausea forced her to bow her head and focus desperately on not vomiting all over her paperwork. If she did that not only would her hard work be wasted, but then she'd have to clean it up.

When she heard the loud snick of the door being opened she forced herself to swallow a number of colorful curses as she raised her head, a perfectly professional smile slipping smoothly in place as she hid her discomfort long enough to get rid of whoever had walked in. It certainly wasn't something important since they weren't hurrying, and the Hokage didn't have a meeting, especially since he was -last time she had checked- just sitting in his office throwing paper airplanes at the wall while he ignored the paperwork he was supposed to do.

And that flawless and practiced smile turned brittle when she saw just who was standing in the now opened doorway.

Her pale hair was pulled and twisted at the back of her head, held in place by a skillfully hidden barrette. Makeup, perfectly done as always, graced a perfectly refined and elegant face as it accentuated full lips and heavily lidded black eyes. Gloves graced elegant hands and diamonds decorated her throat and ears, the cashmere jacket she wore over her black silk dress adding to the air of refined untouchability, and the dangerously high heels she wore doing nothing to hinder the elegant way the woman stepped into the office, hips swishing hypnotically.

Eri pushed her nausea aside and stood to greet the woman, her head tilting just the slightest bit in acknowledgment. "Kaoru-sama, may I ask what brings you here?"

The other woman merely ignored her, looking around the office with eyes that shrewdly and coldly noted every aspect of the room. Finally when she was done she shifted her frigid gaze over to the standing woman behind the desk, and pursed her blood red lips slightly as she began to tug off her gloves.

"Yes... Well you see the clan heard about your little... predicament." She murmured, her voice filled with smokey rooms and secrets, a hint of her perfume filling the air as she glided closer, heels clacking against the wood.

"Predicament?" Eri repeated, watching every movement of the other woman like you would watch a hungry beast circling its prey. She had a foolish hope that if maybe she pretended ignorance they could all just leave it alone. Leave her _babies_ alone.

"Yes. Your pregnancy by one of those unsavory Inuzakas." She made a sound in the back of her throat, something caught between distaste and derision, "Really, I do see the point in dabbling in something a bit more primal every now and again but I would have thought that the clan had instilled more taste into you, or at least enough to know to not go for someone with such a lack of intelligence and refined manners for as long as the two of you have reportedly been together." She sighed. "Though I suppose that the new blood won't hurt our clan. Some men prefer their women a bit less civilized and more on the animalistic side, and having someone naturally so could be of some use to us."

Eri felt a sick twisting dread in her stomach that had nothing to do with her nausea at the thought -the _knowledge_- that they were going to use her children. They were going to take them and use them and force them to be... to be what she used to be.

"I do not wish to give up my children." She whispered, watching as one perfectly shaped and elegant eyebrow rose up slightly in a smooth movement.

"'_Children'_?" She murmured, and Eri realized what she had just done with another sick twist of her stomach. "So there will be more than one... I had not yet learned of that." She nodded as she slipped her gloves back on with quick and yet elegant movements.

"You'll need to be careful then that you carry them out for a long enough period of time. Those that are born premature sometimes are born with problems, and I do not want damaged goods." Kaoru turned on her heel to glide across the room to the door, and Eri only just found her voice in time to stop her from opening it.

"Mother..." She started, desperately trying to reach out to _any _part of her that held even a teaspoon of emotion, hoping that just maybe she could call out to something inside of her that would rethink this and just let her and her babies -that woman's very own grandchildren, though her carefully sculpted face would never acknowledge the fact- be free.

"Mother I-"

"Eri, I do believe that we discussed this when you were younger, though you seemed at the time to understand the basic concept I was trying to convey." Hard and frigid eyes met her pale begging ones, making her flinch. "Emotional bonds are nothing but a hindrance, and it would do us both good if you would remember this. I birthed you, yes, but I did not do so just for you to believe that it entails some kind of special relationship between us. I did it for the clan so that our work can continue, which is the same thing you will be doing in a few months. You would do well to remember your place as a Hikari."

And with that she swept out of the room and left Eri staring after her with tear filled eyes.

She took a steadying breath as she sat down and assured herself that it would be fine. There was nothing to worry about.

She tried to paste another one of her smiles on her face, but the effort proved to be too much for her and she instead found herself bowed over and violently throwing up into the waste basket, tears rolling past her defenses and down her cheeks.

* * *

The months passed slowly, achingly and tortuously slowly. Another one of their visits to the doctor's revealed that two of the babies were probably boys, but the third was behind the others and the doctors were unable to make a guess. And while those two little pieces of hope were wonderful, truly beautiful, that one single uncertainty was enough to keep them both immersed in the darkness of despairing dread.

Eri refused to take a break from work, and when anyone would suggest it she would get an extremely dangerous glint in her eye that made Kiba and Akamaru both instinctively back off and go hide as she asked the questioner if they believed that pregnancy somehow rendered her incompetent. One poor fool happened to insist, though he was quick to shut up when the politely smiling woman lodged an ink pen inches deep into the wood of the wall just centimeters from his throat with a simple flick of her wrist.

And after that, no more suggestions of rest were made.

The hormones had hit Eri -a normally very controlled woman- fairly hard. At one point she had tried to slip into her heels but had discovered that her feet were too swollen for her to put them on. This led to a twenty minute crying session on the floor in front of the bed, after which she insisted -screamed really- to Kiba that the only things that would make her feel better were bananas. Lots and lots of bananas.

He had grumbled and complained to himself that he was living with a crazy person, but twenty minutes later she walked into the kitchen to find a bowl filled with happy yellow bananas.

Just after the thirty-three week mark was when Eri woke up in the middle of the night, discovering that the lower back pains she had been experiencing had intensified slightly from the dull ache it had been earlier. She shifted a bit, grumbling under her breath about being the size of a bloated whale, when suddenly a rippling pain shot through her like the most intense cramp she had ever felt.

Hissing through her teeth as it passed, she shifted again and breathed, trying to relax a bit to try and figure out if she happened to be in false labor or not. She had read up on it some, and she knew that if she moved around and the pains didn't get worse she was probably not in labor, so she got up and went into the living room, waving Akamaru off when he lifted his head.

She paced around the couch while occasionally sitting down when she felt that she had to, rubbing a hand over the mound of her stomach as if it would sooth her coming children. The pains were steadily getting worse and were getting closer and closer together as the first hour passed, and then another, so she knew that this was the real thing and that it was probably time to wake up the father.

"Kiba." She called out to him as she leaned against the door frame. "You need to get up now."

"Why?" He grumbled, his face buried into his pillow.

"Because I'm in labor and we need to go to the hospital."

"Because you're in..." There was a pause as he processed this information, and then he was leaping out of the bed in a flurry of motion and a dramatic toss of the blankets. "Come on then! We need to go!" He said as he came over to her, grabbing her arm and making as if to drag her the entire way to the hospital.

"Kiba, calm down." She managed to say just before he threw her out of the window. "The baby isn't going to just somersault out of me right here and now, so we have a few minutes. I need you to get the bag, Akamaru, and Kiba I need you to get dressed. I'm sure the nurses would greatly appreciate you going in there in just your boxer-briefs, but hospitals are generally cold and I don't want you catching a chill." He stopped, allowing her to slip from his grip and go towards the bathroom while Akamaru happily trotted off to do as she had said.

"Wait, where are you going?" He asked her, confused. According to everything he had heard she was supposed to be screaming her head of right now and going completely crazy. She was just acting more normal than he would have ever expected her to be.

"The bathroom. I'm going to wash my face and brush my teeth, and then after everyone is ready we can go. Don't forget to call your mother!" She called as she shut the door, leaving Kiba standing there staring after her, slightly stunned, before turning to do as she had told him to do. After all, she seemed to have a pretty good grip on things.

Five minutes later they were out the door and heading towards the hospital -walking, since Eri had insisted on it, though as the contractions got more painful and closer together she had to grip Kiba's arm, her knees buckling slightly.

They were just five minutes away from the hospital when Eri felt a sudden slight tugging pop and felt a warm flow of fluid soak her underwear and her leg -and thank God she hadn't put on pants. Kiba looked at her for a stunned moment as she grimaced in distaste at just how gross it felt.

"Did you just...?" She sighed and nodded her head, gripping his arm a bit tighter as she hurried up a bit, scowling a bit at just how _gross _it felt. Though, she supposed that it would get a bit grosser before it got better.

"Yep. My water just broke so... I guess we need to hurry this thing up." She said, and she would have laughed had it not been for another contraction hitting, stealing her breath and making her knees tremble.

They arrived at the hospital soon enough, and once a gentle nurse had sat her down in a wheelchair and after they had talked the nurses into letting Akamaru stay they were on there way into a room where their happy little doctor skipped in.

"Hey! You guys caught me just before I was about to take off, so these guys have some pretty good timing, huh?" She grinned at them both as she took the expecting mother's temperature and blood pressure, popping down onto her little stool and rolling it over to between Eri's legs once she was done. "Well now, open up and we'll have ourselves a little looksie." Eri did as she asked, the little woman popping her head down between her legs and making a sound of thought as she studied her for a moment.

"Well now, you lot seem to be in a bit of a hurry. You're already over half way there and it hasn't even been three hours yet. Just a bit more and then we'll be moving on to the next part." She told them, wheeling her seat back and taking off the gloves. "I'll be back in a little while so you guys just sit tight, though you're more than welcome to walk the halls. You can socialize with the other parents-to-be and share happy little pre-baby stories."

The next two hours were spent gritting teeth through contractions and digging nails violently into one person's arm until it drew blood when he dared to have to audacity to try and order himself food from the deli down the street because he was hungry. She was glaring at him as she tried to breathe past the pain, silently killing him as painfully as possibly with her eyes for the offense as she gripped his hand when little miss chipper herself hopped right back in and slid skillfully between Eri's legs.

"Well then, it looks like we're all set." She said, grinning up at the suddenly slack-jawed pair.

"So... We're going to go have them? Now?" Kiba managed to strangle out, the woman laughing at him.

"Well, we're moving her over to the delivery room, and after that it might be a little bit longer, but your wait is almost over." She assured them.

Twenty minutes later all Eri wanted to do was stop the waiting and just push, though the suddenly stern woman between her legs kept on talking her out of it.

"Come on Eri, just a little bit more. Just ride this one out for me, just one more time. You can even scream, if you have to." Eri shook her head but moaned, trying to ride it out just a little bit longer while trying to ignore the way her body was just _begging_ for her to push.

Kiba sat beside her on the bed, one of his arms going behind her as she kept both of their hands threaded together by crushing his with her sudden monstrous strength, watching it all with a kind of detached horror.

And then the doctor looked up and held Eri's still sharp but pain addled gaze for a moment before nodding to her once.

"Push."

Kiba had no idea why these things went so fast in movies. Usually the doctor says push and then, woosh, baby! But it took three times before the first writhing bloody potato looking thing came out with a hoarse cry from it's mother as she broke two of the father's fingers as he held her back from moving and bending forward with the push like she had wanted to.

"A boy." One of the nurses said as she cleaned the tiny thing off, and the two new parents watched in fascination as more and more of their child was revealed to them from the gunk that covered him, his shrill screams filling the room as she jerked his little limbs back and forth.

Neither of them had seen anything so beautiful in their lives.

They both became puzzled, however, when the nurse holding the new little boy started moving away from the couple instead of towards, worrying Eri greatly as she attempted to move, never taking her eyes off of the tiny little thing that was getting farther and farther away from her.

"Wait! Where are they going!" Eri asked, her heart clenching even as the doctor smiled kindly at her.

"To put him in an incubator. He and his siblings need it for just a little bit until their all done baking, and you'll get to see them all as soon as this is over with." The doctor assured her, but Eri shook her head. They couldn't take him away! Who was going to protect him if he was so far away from her?

The nurse brought the bundled little gift to them, and Eri held out trembling arms for him, tears falling as she settled him into her arms, running a finger down his cheek reverently.' "Beautiful." She whispered, Kiba nodding in agreement and reaching out to touch him as well, both of them sitting there for a single perfect moment.

And that was when another contraction hit her and Eri was suddenly made aware of the fact that she still had two more babies to deliver.

The next one was a boy, and twenty minutes later the pair would have been holding their breath had they had any breaths left to hold, both of them thoroughly exhausted.

They could only pray that God wouldn't pull such a cruel joke on them as the final push came and the last first cry rang out, and they heard those final blessed words.

"It's a boy."

Eri didn't think she had ever cried so much, burying her sweat streaked face into the curve of Kiba's neck as she gasped and sobbed and laughed and hiccuped and spewed off a whole assortment of useless words that no one understood.

Because maybe, just maybe...

* * *

Still amazingly sore -though she figured that such a thing was normal after childbirth- and wearing a soft cotton robe over a plain nightgown, Eri pressed her fingers to the glass that separated her from her children, watching as their quick breaths lifted their delicate chests, feeling the love for them fill her, unconditional and pure.

She was waiting.

Hearing the familiar click of heels on the pale tile of the floor, Eri took a bracing breath as she smiled softly at her little children. She could do this. No one was going to take them away from her.

The sound of the heels stopped as Eri felt the presence at her side, smelling the perfume that danced in the air from the woman's pores, not too light but not to thick. Eri didn't even bother looking at her, keeping her eyes on the tiny forms of her children.

"You're not taking them. They're boys, not girls like you wanted." She murmured, and she could almost see in her mind's eye the way perfectly painted lips would purse.

"It is true that our clan specializes in females, but we have men as well. A whore is a whore, as you very well know." Eri nodded and crossed her arms beneath her chest, releasing a calming breath.

"True."

"And you signed the contract for me to release you, Eri. You have to abide by it."

"Also true." She paused for a moment to see if Kaoru had any more arguments. "But do you know what a really good perk of working for the Hokage is, especially in such a close context?" She peered at the woman in her peripheral vision and saw a perfect eyebrow raise in an elegantly cultured question. "Lawyers. The council lawyers who go over all of the treaties and agreements. All of whom find going over a silly little clan contract child's play."

She turned fully now, looking into the perfectly passive face with one of pressed defiance. "I may have signed off my soul to you, but I did not sign of my sons. I signed off any daughters I would have, though, which will never happen now since I had my tubes tied after the birth. Loopholes, Kaoru-sama. Lawyers are wonderful at finding loopholes."

The other woman was silent for a few minutes as she watched her before beginning to slip on the gloves she had taken off when she had first walked up. "In the event of your deaths, the clan will still try and them." She paused for a moment to look at the babies through the glass. "Or, at least the one without the man's clan markings. But if the machines are any indicator, they were born pre-term, which could mean that they are damaged." She turned away smoothly, beginning to walk away.

"The clan does not wish for damaged specimens. Neither in you nor your children."

Eri nodded and turned away as well, turning back to the glass as she tried to figure out if she wanted to cry or scream or laugh.

They would be fine. It would all be alright.

She felt Kiba come up beside him and leaned her head against his shoulder with a smile, both of them watching their resting sons.

"Who was that?"

"Hmm..." She hummed contentedly for a moment, closing her eyes to revel in the first truly peaceful moment she had felt since those first words had come out of Sakura's mouth. "Just the head of my clan coming to check up on things."

"Huh... She looks a little young. You guys grow up together or something?"

She chuckled dryly and shook her head, wanting to close her eyes for a bit of rest from the emotional turmoil but also not wanting to take her eyes off of her children for a second.

"No, not really."

* * *

And that is that.

I am seventeen and have yet to get pregnant or have a child, and neither do I plan to do so for many years to come so all the stuff above was from the internet because my mother refused to tell me about anything other than saying "It doesn't hurt as bad as they make it out to on TV" (Really, how does that answer _any _question?)

Also, just little things about the triplets:

1) They are a set of identical twins and then a second egg, so like a fraternal twin brother (but a triplet) (there are a lot of technical terms that I looked up when writing that I forgot)

2) Their names are Arata, Katsu, and Takashi (I looked for dog body part related names so I could go with the theme of the Inuzaka in the manga, but Google gave me a "WTF?" look, so I eventually gave up and went to go cry in a corner)

A hello to my newest dear Natsu123 (Hi there!) and also a big thank you to TheCookieMonster77 who always gives me praise and enthusiasm that makes my day so wonderful and bright!

Good bye, dearly devoted followers! *rides off into the sunset on a magical unicorn*


	96. With Old Age, NaruHina

Why yes, this does seem to be a two in one day day. How lucky for you, my sweets, that my muse was up and kicking to make up for her lack of performance as of recent.

And LadyArinn, you might be saying, isn't this title a bit familiar?

Yes, it is. I shall refer you to chapter 47, and we shall move on to the reading.

* * *

Hinata lay back on the crisply sheeted bed, gently moving her fingertips over the white cloth as she looked to the wide window that sat in the wall and the little slice of outside life that it revealed to her. The sun was bright and shining, causing the pale walls of the room to glow with a warmth they hadn't previously held. Leaves, bright and green and big, moved in the light breeze, dancing together and brushing up against each other to create the gently skittering song that had calmed her her entire life. There was a bird somewhere singing, and Hinata smiled to herself at the sound.

It all looked so beautiful.

"Do you think we can open the window?" She murmured quietly, turning her face towards the man who was sitting in the chair beside her bed, though when she saw him her smile fell.

"Oh," She sighed, reaching our a slim and wrinkled hand and cupping his face, "Oh Naruto."

Naruto closed his eyes as he reached up to put his hand over her's, leaning into her soothing touch as his face scrunched up in pain, and Hinata took a moment to study the man she had been married to for over sixty years with sad eyes. His hair had grayed long ago, though it still spiked as it always had, and his face was marked from the happy years with creases at the corners of his eyes and lips from all of the laughter and grins, and as she stared at them Hinata couldn't help the small and gentle smile that curved her lips.

Naruto opened his pained and sad eyes and met Hinata's, the blue just as bright and just as vibrant as they had always been, though she couldn't see the laughter in them at that moment and knowing that she was the cause of that happy light fading away made her so terribly sad.

"It will be okay." She whispered as she lifted her free hand and ran it soothingly through his hair, setting up and leaning forward so that she could press a kiss to his forehead. As she laid back down she tried to remove her hands but Naruto caught them, gathering them into his own and gripping them desperately as he pressed their joined hands to the spot that her lips had just touched, bowing his head so that all she could see was the top of it.

"Why does it have to be you? Why do you have to go first?" He whispered hoarsely, and Hinata could only smile at him indulgently, though there were tears in her pale eyes.

"Why couldn't it be me?"

"Because they still need you, Naruto. They still need their Rokudaime Hokage, even if you aren't serving anymore. They need your strength and your determination and drive, and they need you far more than they need me." She squeezed the fingers that were entwined with hers and tried to find the words that would make him strong, that would somehow magically make all of this better.

"...I need you." He finally whispered so quietly that she barely heard it, breaking her heart but making her smile grow as well, though the curve of her lips trembled.

Her Naruto. Needy and so dependent at times, but incredibly strong and firmly unbending at others.

"I know. I know and I'm sorry, Naruto. I really am. But you'll be fine. It might take a little while, but you will." He shook his head and clutched her hands even tighter, and Hinata stared at his stiff and forlorn form for a moment before shaking her head. He wasn't able to see it just yet, but she knew it would happen.

Somehow, even though that was what she wanted most, that was the thing that hurt the most.

They stayed there like that for a few silent moments as Hinata watched the leaves and sunlight through the window, and when she felt his hands -such steady and strong hands- begin to shake she knew that she had to talk, to try and distract his mind for just a little while before he broke.

"Are the kids here?" She quietly asked him, and there was a moment of almost uncertain hesitation, like he was teetering at the very brink and her voice had just barely brought him back from the fall.

"...Yes. They're all outside. They wanted to give us a little bit of time alone."

"It's good that everyone is here." She murmured, and after a moment Naruto lifted his head to look at her with tortured eyes.

She had aged, but it had happened with the elegance and grace she had always naturally held. There were slight creases around her eyes but she looked younger than her age, defying the laws of time. Her hair, still gloriously long, had gone white with the years and was currently twisted comfortably atop her head to allow her to lay down, and her lips were curled up slightly as her eyes glowed warmly at him.

She was still so achingly beautiful, made so even more by the years.

He cleared his throat and looked away from her for a moment, his eyes landing on the bright window and he remembered that she had inquired about earlier.

"You said you want the window opened?" He asked her, and when she nodded he pushed himself up to go and do as she had asked.

Hinata smiled at his back as he walked over before closing her eyes, sighing as she heard the wood slide up and let the breeze drift through, bringing with it the smell of sunshine and spring days. She had the brief thought that she hoped someone would help him with the garden. His bones were getting old and she didn't think that he'd be able to handle all of it by himself.

Naruto placed his hand on the wood of the frame and stared outside for a moment, breathing in the fresh air free of the thick medicines and antiseptic smells that littered the halls of the hospital where he had practically lived the past few weeks. It was bright with the warm natural light devoid of the artificial glare of the harsh ceiling lights, and he distantly heard the sound of someone laughing.

Hinata had been right, it was better with the window open. She was always right.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun."

He didn't bother turning around at her voice, filled with the warmth and love that had surrounded their years together. He knew what he'd find if he did.

A gentle smile on her lips and her eyes closed as if in sleep, looking peaceful and beautiful as she lay against the sterile white sheets.

Not breathing.

Shifting forward so that he leaned against the wall, the side of his face pressing into the frame of the window as he stared out at the picturesque world that continued on as if nothing had happened. As if his entire world, the woman he had loved nearly all of his long life and the woman who had supported him no matter what throughout the years hadn't just... stopped.

And so he did the only thing he felt he was able to do, the only thing he _could _do.

He took a breath and closed his eyes to the happy world that sped by him as if he wasn't grounded to a halt, turned to unmovable stone within this one moment in time with all the breath torn from his body. And he cried.

He cried because his heart had just been torn from his now gaping and bleeding chest and he didn't know if he could ever fix it. The only person who had ever had claim to that ability was gone now. He cried as if it were the only thing he knew how to do, as if tears were the only answer.

He stood in the sunshine and warmth that felt too cold, and he cried.

* * *

You see, I had originally planned to write all the couples as old in chapter 47, but Kathy stopped working on me and I couldn't. And originally, Naruto and Hinata's chapter was going to be filled with hand o=holding and garden tending and cutesy old people stuff, but as you can see here (almost fifty(!) chapters later), things got change up a teensy bit.

Okay, okay, I nuked the old idea and built this from the ashes and fumes.

Toodle-loo, my lovelies, the way things have been going I might see you sooner than either of us expect.


	97. Mission Celebration

Hello again, dearest ones! I am here once more to bestow upon you the greatest joys I can give to you across the inter-web!

This is for my cute little sweetie TheCookieMonster77 who wanted me to write Rin's tattoo ordeal, so I also added in the entire mission (sorry if it sucks) and their third teammate. Who I have fallen in love with while I was writing (I really need to stop doing that).

Here we go, on the adventure for the ages! (not really, but what ever.)

* * *

Rin made her way through the festival, glancing over the happy lanterns and to booths of games with sharp eyes, breathing in the smells of grilling meats and the mixes of perfumes and sweat. There was a mixture of traditional and more modern clothes that clashed and tangled within the crowd, leather jackets and cotton kimonos coming together to create a very interesting picture. Her own outfit of a pale yukata with a grey obi and her wooden geta and the paper umbrella that rested on her shoulder fit in perfectly with the festivities.

She got a few glances from some boys, though they didn't bother her that much since she knew that she looked good. But just to be safe from standing out she turned to the fishing game stand and tried her hand at it, purposely failing the first three times and then accidentally doing so the fourth try before catching a fat little white fish with red speckles on the rice paper, tossing it into the baggie filled with water just before her scooper broke.

Satisfied that she now looked more like a regular fair-goer with the baggie hanging from her wrist, Rin continued to slip through the crowd, quiet and practically unseen, absolutely unnoticed by the man she was tracking.

She stayed a moderate distance away from the man until he entered a part of the festival where the lighting was dimmer and the crowds were thinner. She held her breath for a moment, counting off the remaining time in her head before moving forward in a nearly invisible blur. The tap of the wood of her shoe coinciding with the first explosion of fireworks, the henge she had placed on her sword to make it look like an umbrella slipping off in the same instant. The silky sound of the metal slipping from it's sheath was covered by the second whistling explosion, as she moved with narrowed and focused eyes she didn't even bother hesitating.

The third explosion covered his choked gurgle as she stabbed her blade forward, severing his spine and slicing through the aorta. He gasped quietly and jerked slightly before becoming silent and sagging back as she removed her kantana. She turned quickly and walked him into the alley they stood beside letting the body fall back into the wall to slide down before crumpling to the dirt ground, completely unnoticed by the people who stared up at the sky in awe as she wiped her blade off on the man's sleeve.

Five minutes later she was walking down the street, twirling her umbrella as she nibbled on the squid she had purchased, glancing up occasionally to look at the sparkling pinwheels and glittering bursts that lit up the sky.

"Well now, don't you look like you had fun?"

Rin smiled at the white haired girl who seamlessly slid into step beside her as they walked the path to where the final part of the mission would take place, biting her cheek to keep from laughing at how disgruntled she looked.

"I did. I won a fish."

Karin shot her a look from the corner of her eye that obviously questioned her sanity and snorted. "Oh? You just decided to take a little break from your assassination to go catch fish and maybe have a nice cup of tea too? I don't think that that is how these things work, Rin."

Rin stuck her nose up into the air and glided past the taller girl, tossing the now bare skewer into a trash bin across the street with an accuracy her mother would have been proud of, waving the other squid she held tauntingly as she looked over her shoulder, white eyes wicked. "Your attitude could use some work, you know. And I even got you food, you disagreeable girl."

Karin rolled her eyes but held out her hand for the treat, smirking at Rin in thanks as she handed it over.

They continued to walk in silence as the streets they traveled grew darker and seedier, stopping in front of a stone building that looked just as dilapidated and world-weary as those around it, though they both knew that there was something a bit different about this particular one. It was a "trading house", as the townspeople called it, normally dealing with anything from drugs to prostitution to assassinations. They had caught the council's attention, however, when they had started getting more independent and violent, spouting off well versed beliefs of a perfect world as they took innocent people as virgin sacrifices and had "ceremonies" by gathering entire families of people to be hunted down and killed in the name of their true God.

Their team's mission had been to come in and take care of it, getting all of the information as to how deep their ties ran before destroying the facility, also taking out the ninjas who had joined. Rin and Karin had just got back from taking out the two men who ran the group -the ninjas had been taken care of independently the day before, as were a number of the followers- and now all they had to wait for was the confirmation that the last part of the mission was ready to be completed.

"Do you think that everything has been taken care of?" Karin asked quietly as her mint green eyes ran up and down the streets for any signs of trouble.

"Hmm..." Rin idly got rid of the henge on her sword, placing her hand on the hilt as she stayed ready for anything. "Nanami has been taking care of it for the past couple of hours, so there shouldn't be anything wrong. And the information is probably really easy for her what with the photographic memory and her ability to read a paper in three seconds flat."

"Actually, it's a bit closer to five." Called a voice from above them, and they looked up to see their third teammate sliding down the gutter -for no reason other than just to do it- from the eighth floor.

Tangled blonde hair was streaked with red as it twisted and fluffed around a round face, a thin piece of it pulled off to the right and braided, growing out past her chest, and though it had been vigorously questioned no one had ever gotten her to say exactly _why _that was the only piece of her hair she grew out, and had eventually stopped asking over the years. She was a tiny and slim slip of a girl who wore baggy and mismatched clothes and always had matches and pencils behind her ears and in her pockets.

Not to mention that she was at least three different types of crazy, though she was sweet about it.

"Well, after six hours I have gone over every inch of that place and read every piece of paper I could get my hands on, along with all the useless bits." She paused for a moment, cocking her head as she thought back, "...They liked to order Thai food on Wednesday, and there is one other major base and three tinier ones dotted here and there. I went ahead and sent off what had to be sent, gathered what had to e gathered and... and I think it's about time for us to go... now. Definitely now." She said as she grabbed her teammates' arms and pulled them up to the rooftop and then as far away as they could get in the half a minute they had.

After that half a minute they heard an explosion not of the firework variety, and thee two girls glanced back to see the building they had just stood before nothing more than bellows of smoke and blackened burning remains.

"Oh," Nanami sighed as they continued to move, "That sounded nice."

The two other girls didn't bother to send her a look because they were both too used to it, too used to her.

And that was just a little sad.

They hurried out of the town unseen and disappeared as if they had never been there, running through the trees once they hit them as they made their way to the small town that was a few miles away and to the hotel room they had gotten before they had set out to complete their mission. Standing outside of the back of the hotel, Rin and Nanami were just about to jump up to their room when Karin caught them, grinning at them both.

"You guys... we just finished our first B-rank mission all by ourselves... Do you know how seriously _awesome_ this is?" Smiles grew on their faces, and Karin bounced on her toes slightly. "We have to do something to celebrate!"

Rin blinked at her. "Seriously? What are we going to do? It's the middle of the night, and nothing is open here." Karin thought about it for a few moments, unable to come up with a good answer, and Nanami glanced past her and at the dimly glowing sign behind the pale haired girl.

"That's open." She said, and as soon as Karin saw it she knew that it was absolutley perfect.

"Yes!" She said, dragging the other two into the shop.

"No. No Karin, we are not doing this. We are _fifteen_, and our parents will destroy us."

"I have no parents." Nanami pointed out airily, and Karin grinned back at her as she pushed open the tinted glass door.

"That's the spirit!" Karin said enthusiastically before turning back to the man that was sitting behind the service desk. "Hello! We'd all like some tattoos to commemorate a special occasion." She told him, and the man looked them over slowly before nodding once, waving at the wall that housed a wild array of drawings and prints.

"Take a look at that wall over there and tell me what you want, but I won't be doing any boyfriend's names or frilly hearts. Not for you three." Karin and Nanami shrugged and went over to look at the tattoo designs, and Rin sighed in relief at the reasonable request. At least this man seemed to have a conscious and didn't seem like he would get mad when she finally manged to drag the other two girls out.

"Hey Rin, come look at these." Karin called out, and Rin sighed as she walked over, deciding that she'd flip through the book for a few minutes before persuading the other girls to leave.

Of course, that was until she saw that book.

"They're so pretty." She breathed, enamored, flipping the plastic covered pages. There were dozens of mythological creatures and spirits decorating the pages, ranging from gorgeous and seductive to cute.

"That book is my own personal designs, while the others are from the other workers who aren't here right now." The man said, and Rin had a brief moment of wondering at how a big man with a deep voice in black leather could create such adorable little things, but she waved it away, too busy cooing over everything.

"I want this one." Karin said, voice decided as she pointed to a small picture of a twisting and curling dragon, one of the ones that leaned more towards pretty than cute. Rin was about to protest, to remind Karin that this was probably the stupidest idea she had ever had, but then she saw a little girly Kappa holding a fan in a knee length kimono -something similar to what she would normally wear, though a bit fancier- and she just couldn't help herself. It was just too cute.

"This is the one I want."

"Well then, I like this one." Nanami said, and they turned to see her pointing to a drawing of a shachihoko that was on the wall, snorting to herself. "Ironic, huh? They protect buildings from fire." Then with a shared look they nodded and stepped forward, following the man as he started to the back room, getting everything ready.

"Which one of you want to go first?" He asked, and Karin happily stepped forward, pulling her tank-top off over her head -startling the poor man at just how decided she was- and then the mesh shirt she had worn beneath, straddling the bench and laying down on her stomach, reaching back to point at a spot just beneath her bindings in the middle of her back.

"I'd like it right here, please. About the size of a playing card."

"Well, you just get right in there, don't you?" The man asked with a smirk as the other two girls settled into chairs to watch. He put the stencil on Karin's back and prepped is machine, hesitating just before the needle touched her skin. "You sure you want it here? Right on the spine is very painful."

"Oh," She sighed, closing her eyes as she crossed her arms beneath her head, "I think I'll be fine." And though he went on with it, he didn't believe her until the first hour had gone and she hadn't whimpered or even moved, sitting like a rock and far better than men twice her age and size.

They all sat in silence other than the whirring of the machine until Rin noticed the red scratches that ran up and down Karin's arms, scratched that seemed recent and painful.

"Karin, what happened to your arms?" An ineligible grumble was what she got as an answer, and she cocked her head in puzzlement. "What?"

"A chicken. The guy had a chicken and I didn't notice it until it was going after my face." She muttered a bit louder, her face flushing from the embarrassment of the words.

There was a beat of silence before both Rin and Nanami nearly fell out of their chairs laughing, choking as tears pricked their eyes.

"You... A man's pet _chicken _attacked you?"

"_Yes_ Rin! A chicken attacked me! Now let's move on to something else... Like your fish."

"Oh," Rin graciously said on a final laugh, her lips curving up into a smile as she lifted up the little baggie, "Do you like him? I was thinking about naming him Bubbles."

"That's a really stupid name." Karin muttered, and Rin rolled her eyes at the other girl's childish pouting.

"It's a fish, Karin. I don't really think there _are_ any stupid names."

"Whatever." Karin muttered, turning her face away so that she could pout in the closest thing that resembled privacy at the time.

"Ha." Nanami snorted to herself, "Chicken... That's funny."

* * *

Rin took a a deep and bracing breath as she stood a little ways away from her house, going over the little speech she had made up on the way to the village and had practiced dozens of times in her head.

_Yes, I know it's stupid... Yes, I agree that I am too young... Yes, I am very sorry... I should never have done it without talking to you first... I will accept all punishments..._

_Let's just blame everything on Karin._

"Rin? What are you doing hiding back here?"

Shrieking at the sudden intrusion of her mother's voice as it interrupted her thoughts, Rin whirled around to stare at the woman with wide eyes, pressing a hand to her rapidly beating heart.

"M-Mama!" She squeaked, and Tenten's eyebrow lifted in question as she watched her strangely nervous daughter. Watching her fidget for a moment, Tenten realized that her daughter was feeling guilty about something, and even though she wanted to smile she narrowed her eyes imposingly at the girl, making the fidgeting significantly worse.

Really, it was adorable how she could never bear to hide anything from her or Neji no matter how she tried.

"What is it, Rin? I can tell you're hiding something." At the forlorn look on the girl's face Tenten nearly broke and started laughing, but managed to restrain herself.

"I... Do you promise not to be _too _mad?" She pleaded, and Tenten snorted.

"I can't do that without knowing what it is, so it would be best if you just get this over with. I'll react how I see fit, and then we'll go deal with your father." Rin nodded and closed her eyes as she bit her lip, loosening the simple belt of her short yukata and pulling the top off so that it pooled at her waist, turning around so that her mother could see as she glanced up at the sky to begin praying.

Eyebrows knit as she stared at the back of her daughter's head for a moment, Tenten wasn't sure what she was supposed to be looking at until she saw what was housed behind clear plastic and protective mesh near the girl's left shoulder blade.

A colorful little tattoo.

Rin wasn't all that sure what she had been expecting, but it certainly hadn't been laughter. Yelling and anger definitely, but not laughter.

"Oh... God. Your father is going to be _pissed_!" Tenten snorted, "I can't wait to see his face!"

"You... You're not mad?" Rin asked as she turned, starting to straighten her clothes.

"Oh, a little. I mean, I wish you would have waited until you were a little bit older, but it would kind of be a waste to bite your head off now that is has already been done. You're going to get punished and your father is probably going to go into one of his talks, but I don't really see how it is that big of a deal." Tenten narrowed her eyes quickly, "Though this is a one time deal. If you even think about doing it again, I will hurt you. You're too young to be getting all tattooed up."

Rin quickly nodded and started to walk to the house, breathing easier now. But then she looked up and saw her father standing on the porch with his arms crossed over his chest and looking his most imposing, glaring at them as she realized that from where he was standing, he had perfectly seen what she had hoped to gently ease him into.

"You got a tattoo?" He asked her incredulously, his voice furious, and Rin winced.

"Um... yes. But hey, look, I got a fish too!" She said half-desperatley, holding up the baggie that Hime-Hime ( the name that Nanami had given it, which Rin had liked much better than Bubbles while Karin had said that both were horrible) happily swam in.

"You're fifteen!" Neji exclaimed, ignoring the fish, "You are too young to be getting a tattoo!"

"Neji, calm down."

"Tenten, she got a _tattoo_!"

"Yes, I saw. There isn't anything we can do about it, so there's no use in getting so upset about it. And hey, she would have had to get one anyways if she joined the ANBU later on."

"That is not the same thing! You can't seriously be thinking about letting her get away with this?"

"Oh no," Tenten said breezily, waving away the suggestion, "I'm to ask Lee to do some training with her for a week or two along side Gai-sensei. You know how those two are when they get together."

Neji stared at her for a second before glancing over at his gaping daughter with pity and satisfaction.

"That will do." He said, turning away and walking back into the house. Tenten grinned at her horrified daughter before slapping her shoulder -the un-tattooed one- and moving to follow.

"Well, I better get in there and call to see when Lee and Gai can get started. Oh, and I like the fish!"

Rin watched as her mother disappeared with wide and horrified eyes before glancing down at the merrily swimming fish in her hands.

"If I survive this," She confided quietly to the fish, "I am going to _destroy_ Karin." And with that she sighed and went in to check and see if there were enough painkillers in the medicine cabinet.

* * *

Well, there we go.

I researched Japanese mythological creatures, and the shachihoko is an animal with the head of a tiger and the body of a carp that protects buildings from fire, and it was ironic for Nanami to get this because she's a bit of a pyromaniac. (Just a tiny bit! She's nuttier than a peanut factory though.)

And while the drawings of Kappa are usually ugly, I remembered a comic series I read by the artist Humon called Manala Next Door that features a perfect little kappa who was just perfectly cute for Rin (who loves girly cute things). You can find the picture of her that is basically the tattoo here [manalanextdoor*com/modest-demons] (replace the * with a . and get rid of the ['s)

(also, you may not want to read any of her comics if you're a prude or if you are disgusted by unconventional relationships. I adore Humon and her Niels comics (another series by her) but you may not. But see the picture if you want since there is absolutely nothing wrong with it and it is actually really cute.)

Notes to my lovelies-

XxcandichanxX- *noms on pancake* Thank you so much! I love your tears, but I don't at the same time, so please don't cry! (but do, because it lets me know that I'm doing my job right)

TheCookieMonster77- I could never be annoyed! Go ahead, ramble. Tell me about your day or your life goals, relationship problems or what you had for lunch. I don't care! I love everything you little dears say to me, and I adore your reviews and smile every time I read them.

Hektols- I'm sorry for being evil (not really, muwahahaha!), and the reason that Naruto didn't do any of that is because he didn't know. Kiba had, however, planned to go to him if any of the children had been taken and Eri had gone. (Also, there was no daughter. Eri gave birth to three boys)

luzhikari- Thank you!

xFallingxCastlexWallsx- Yeah, three is going to be a bit much at times.

I'm out, Mitches! (And Myrtles and turtles and Susans and Pauls)


	98. Cooking Class, KakaSaku

Hello sweeties, I'm back once again, and this one is for my darling little life ruiner (I kid!) Hektols who said once upon a chappie that:

**"according to canon Sakura is a very bad cook"**

Well, this just ruined my day (or at least made me frown). I didn't remember reading it in the manga, I didn't see it on Wiki, but I did remember that some of the fics I read with Sakura had her not able to cook very well. So feeling a tad silly for not seeing this somewhere I had to write this to explain how my Sakura cooks.

Onward!

* * *

"Oh my God," Sakura breathed, looking down in amazement at one of the greatest accomplishments of her life, "I did it." She looked around, half expecting someone to be there to share in her complete and astonished joy before looking back down at the glass dish that housed the most beautiful baked chicken she had ever seen. The skin was perfectly browned and seasoned, and the rice that was with it was steaming and was a lovely brown color, looking as if they had been cooked by someone who knew what she was doing The stir-fried green beans, mushrooms and onions looked flawless in their own little pan, and the entire thing nearly brought her down to her knees from how marvelous it was.

She had finally _-finally- _made and entire dish without ruining anything.

Ino could take taunts and shove them down her throat along with all of the little remarks about her terrible cooking. Not only had she just cooked, but she had just kicked cooking's _ass._

"That smells good." A deep voice said from behind her, making her jump and whip around to bump into the chest of one Hatake Kakashi. Sakura blinked up at him for a moment before finally finding her voice, reminding herself that he hadn't even touched her yet so her knees had no reason to be weak.

"Ah, thanks..." She noticed the way his eyes seemed to be permanently glued to the chicken -obviously caught by just how beautiful and marvelous and perfect it looked- and so before she even thought about it she found herself asking, "Do you want a plate?"

With a surprisingly quick nod he moved to the tiny table and sat down in one of the chairs, watching as she cut a few hearty pieces out of the chicken and scooped up generous spoonfuls of rice and vegetables. A few minutes later they were sitting across from one another and eating, both pleasantly surprised at just how good the food actually was.

"You know," Kakashi said after swallowing another forkful of rice, "I thought you couldn't cook."

She supposed that she could have told the truth, which was that she actually wasn't very good at it and that the chicken was an anomaly, but all she could hear was Ino making snarky comments about how her lack of cooking skills would lead her to not keeping a man, which led her to saying to her lover of the past month: "Of course I can cook."

He nodded and decided not to press his argument -especially not when holding his tongue got him food- and sat his fork down on his now empty plate, satisfied after two hearty servings. He stood up and walked around her, ruffling her hair as he passed, chuckling as she huffed at the indignity of it. "Well then, I'll have to stop by again for some more." He said just before disappearing in a puff of smoke and a rustle of leaves to leave for a mission he was already an hour late for.

Huffing out a breath in annoyance at his abrupt departure -while assuring herself that she was certainly _not_ disappointed that all he did to her was ruffle her hair- Sakura got up and took care of what little food was left over before getting to the dishes. While she was in the middle of the repetitive chore of scouring the plates and pans with the wash-rag she allowed her mind to wander, thinking on all of the supplies she'd have to replenish from the times her friends had decided her help was better than the hospitals. While it was flattering -and annoying, very annoying- she hated having to go out and constantly buy more sheets and bandages all the time.

She needed new towels since her old ones were almost frayed beyond use, and she was also almost out of shampoo. She wanted to get new throw pillows, but she supposed that could wait until she actually had some time, and she also really needed to go to the grocery store eventually. Maybe while she was there she could grab a couple of cookbooks and try to see if she could find anything else she could fix for... and was she really thinking about learning to cook for Kakashi? Sure, she had been complaining about it earlier to herself and had been determined to cook something to prove Ino wrong, but that was over with now.

She most certainly did _not _have to cook anything else, and certainly not for Kakashi.

She reminded herself of this fact the next day as she pushed her cart through the aisles, pointedly ignoring the pretty little display of cookbooks that sat at the end of the shelves she was at. After all, there was absolutely no reason for her to even note their existence. So she picked up the box of frozen dinner she wanted, put it in her cart and started to turn it past the cookbooks to get to the next aisle...

...And she opened up the shiny red and white checked cover to start glancing through, just for pure curiosity's sake. It was just a book about cooking, and she just wanted to see how easy it would be to make something new, something just for herself, obviously.

What... What the hell was blanching? And braising? Poaching an egg? How did you do that? And what did it mean _"__garnish to taste"_? What was a garnish and why was the book being so damn vague?

"S-Sakura? Are you okay?" She heard a gentle voice ask, pulling her from her inner rant, "You look a little mad."

Looking up at Hinata Sakura shook her head to reassure her, motioning to the book with a scowl. "No, it's nothing. Just... Do you know what a flambe is?" Hinata blinked and shook her head slowly, moving so she could see the word in the book.

"No... Are you learning to cook?" She asked curiously, watching as the pinkette rolled her eyes in disgust as she snapped the book closed, setting it back on the stack.

"I was thinking about it, but since it seems that I need thirty different dictionaries to decipher that book, I don't think I'll be able to. Not without a class."

"T-Then why don't you take a class?" Hinata asked, truly curious since it seemed to be such a simple solution.

"Well I just don't want to go to it alone, you know? There's no _way _Ino would want to do it because she hates the thought of approaching a stove, and even though she hates it she does know how to cook anyways. And other than her there's just no one else I can think of."

Hinata nodded, contemplating the glossy cover of the book they both stared at before coming to her decision. "W-Well... I'll go with you, if that's okay." She quietly suggested. "All I know how to make is ramen for Naruto and vegetable soup, and it would be good for me to learn some new dishes so that we won't be stuck eating ramen every night." Slowly a small, blushing smile spread over her face as she lowered her head so that she looked at Sakura shyly through her bangs.

"It... It seems like something an actual wife would do, doesn't it? A cooking class..." She blushed even deeper, happily thinking of her soon coming marriage to her fiance.

"Yeah," Sakura said, mentally strangling and then decapitating the little taunting voice that told her she was learning to cook for a man too, to instead focus on just how adorable and sweet her two friends relationship was. "It does."

* * *

There we go, my little dearies. I added Hinata in there since I figured that a first born of the Hyuuga clan wouldn't know how to cook that well, and Sakura needed someone to hang out with while learning what a garnish is.

Also, I'm glad you liked Nanami, my sweet little TheCookieMonster77, I liked her too!

Happiness upon all of you, my sweet dears!


	99. Just a Nightmare, ShikaTema

Hello dear-hearts! Here's another chapter, just for you! (Yes, you! You rock!)

This one was requested by Seashells1000 who said (once upon a chapter 78):

**"You should do one about a night where she has a nightmare,"**

Right before calling me her favorite writer (Thanks a bunches!)

So here we go!

* * *

It was dark. Not the usual kind of darkness where you can sense something there, where you can feel the reassurance of the ground beneath your feet and the comforting support of blurs of even darker darkness that gives shape to figures and forms.

This darkness was eternal.

It swallowed even the faintest and the dimmest of lights with an insatiable hunger, greedily stealing away frantic breaths until the air became too thin and your chest too heavy. Until all you could think about was just giving in, just falling back into the abyss and giving yourself up to the creature whose silent howls and bellows shook the entire foundation of your life.

But then the dark was gone in a single instant just before the weakness became too much, and everything thing that had only moments ago been nothing became a something that burned too bright, the glaring white burning itself into her retinas to taunt her whenever she dared to think that closing her eyes would bring respite.

Then they were there, leaning over her, cloaked righteously in white from head to toe. All but for their eyes. Their eyes frostily burned from darkened hollows, frigid and flat as they looked over her. They were eyes that glowed with an evil pride as they lifted gleaming metal claws that dripped with a poison that froze her blood in her veins as it burned through the flimsy veil of her flesh.

The monsters -demons cloaked in intentions they deemed to be right- lifted those claws, giving her barely a moment to wish that there was some way to tear herself free from all of this, some way to find some kind of reprieve.

And the claws zeroed in on her heart, slashing out in a movement that was too fast for her to comprehend before tearing back, deformed and depraved blood covered hands reaching out to hold her still furiously beating heart in front of her face as her wounds -so many wounds, too many- wept blood, body screaming silently in tortuous pain.

And as the claws lifted once more, menacingly gleaming in the too bright light, what used to be Temari tilted back her head and screamed out, begging for death.

* * *

She felt hands on her shoulders, rough and hard as they tried desperately to restrain her. Her throat ached in a way that made her wish for nothing more than a glass of water and her skin was slick and sticky with a thick covering of sweat. The taste of salt was heavy on her tongue, and she realized that it was from a cocktail mixture of sweat and tears. Her ears rang with the sheer volume of the screams that filled the room, and she had the distant thought that she wished someone would help whoever was making such noise. There was so much pain evident in that desperate cry, and that person obviously needed help.

Cracking her eyes open she saw a blurred form leaning over her, coming to her to give her more pain, more of the ugliness that filled her body now to the brim. Feeling the hard bite of the hands and seeing the menacing form above her, Temari did the only thing she could think of in that choking moment. She fought.

She fought like a woman possessed, and truly that was what she was. She fought back with a desperation that choked of her breath in her throat and guided her hands in ways that her terrified mind would not. There were no well placed punches or attempts of using the momentum of the attackers body smartly against him. Instead her nails lashed out, sharp and menacing as they latched onto skin and tore. She bucked up and kicked, thrashing desperately as she tried to move, to somehow get free.

Quite suddenly she realized that she was, in fact, the one screaming.

Hollowly, as if a distant voice was calling out to her from such a tremendous distance that it could not be heard properly, Temari slowly picked up on the words that were being frantically thrown her way.

"...Temari! Damn it, Temari! Calm down! Please Temari, calm down!"

For a moment, all she really wanted to do was tell the poor man to calm down. He sounded as if he were begging someone away from the brink of death.

Finally one of her knees managed to catch her attacker in the gut, making him lose his breath for barely a moment, but it was long enough for her to buck out of his hold, causing him to fall off of the edge of the bed to land with a resounding thud on the floor.

Breathing raggedly as her heart beat a shaking tempo in her chest, Temari suddenly felt the world slip back horridly into place. Sitting up she shoved some of her limp hair away from her eyes so that she could properly look down at her husband as he stared up at her from the tangle of blankets on the floor. Furiously red marks sliced through the skin of his cheek from right under his brokenhearted eyes down to his chin. More marks streaked down his throat and across his shoulders, and his split lip slowly let out a single tear of blood that rolled down his chin, leaving a streak of crimson that glared accusingly at her.

Suddenly she couldn't breathe again, though this time it was for completely different reasons than she had had before. Tears, bitter and hot, rolled quickly down her face, chased out by the self hatred and disgust that filled her so that she was overflowing with it, the boiling pool threatening to bubble out and hurt everything she held dear.

Choking and sobbing she brought her knees up to her chest and buried her face into them, wrapping her arms around her legs as she began to rock back and forth, back and forth, back and forth as her entire body shivered, muscles trembling and twitching without physical cause. Each of the scars dealt to her over those ten long years throbbed with pain as if they had just been re-carved into her skin, but the pain that speared through her heart at the sight of what she had just done to Shikamaru, the pain she had just dealt him, was far hotter and far more crippling than any wound the demons could have ever thought to have given her.

Sobbing brokenly she shook her head as Shikamaru reached out for her, flinching back at his achingly tender touch. He tried to gather her into his arms but she refused to uncurl, continuing to rock as if that were the only thing that could fix her broken life.

"I'm sorry," She sobbed as he sat beside her helplessly, staring at her with desperate eyes that were filling with his own tears, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."

So sorry...

* * *

Well, there we are!

And also, Hektols dear, I would like it very much if you could explain these things (the failures in my fics) to me (preferably telepathically) before I write out my chapters and pat myself on the back. Thank you, dear one.

Well, I'll just go sit in a corner now since I'm such a failure. Don't worry though, I'll be back with a new chapter soon! (though it will be bathed in the tears of my sadness).

Toodles!


	100. Sheer Volume, KibaEri

I needed to introduce Kiba and Eri's kiddies, but then I decided to go ahead and introduce the kiddies puppies.

And here we are.

* * *

Eri supposed that it was a little sad that the sounds of fighting and yelling did nothing to affect or worry her as she opened the door to the little home she and Kiba had shared with their sons for the past eight years -in fact it probably was something that actually reassured her. She had no idea what she'd do if the boys were actually quiet. But with each of her three boys having inherited every single one of Kiba's competitive, alpha male, and domineering traits, the sounds of shouts was all too normal.

Hanging her jacket up on the peg by the door Eri decided to go ahead and deal with the little devils before she changed into more comfortable clothes than what she wore for work since all of her boys were slightly intimidated by her when she was in her work mode. Walking through the house to get to the back, Eri sighed at just how loud the boys were being. Even though the Inuzaka were more tolerant of it since they were all just as rowdy, she knew that it would still annoy the neighbors and she did not want another lecture from the elderly lady who lived next door.

She'd punch her if the woman dared to start talking about how her work was keeping her from being a good mother again.

Opening the screen door that led to the tiny little porch, Eri stepped out and watched her three little precious angels for a moment before crossing her arms calmly and imposingly over her chest.

"Boys, what do you think you're doing?" She asked in a cool voice that carried across the yard to the mud pit her three darlings had made with the hose that was still sluggishly pushing out water -and that was certainly something to be worried about since they did not own a hose, and never had.

The eldest of the three boys jerked and froze, stuck in the compromising position of holding tight to the collar of his brother's T-shirt with one fist while the other was posed to strike in the air, the third son watching just a few steps away, waiting for the opportune moment to join the scuffle. Slowly the three boys turned their faces towards their mother, the rest of their bodies frozen under her scrutiny.

They smiled slowly and with the same wild charm that their father had, sharp canines flashing at her as the three boys tried desperately to win their way out of the situation with nothing but smiles.

It wasn't going to happen. Kiba could have easily told them that if he had been there.

Eri raked her eyes over the trio, taking in the mud and grass stains that covered them from head to toe, the shorts that were being worn by two of her children in the chilly November air, though at least Arata had had the presence of mind to pull on now ruined jeans. Katsu had a scratch over his eyebrow while Takashi had a split lip, and while Arata was unmarked she knew that if she hadn't appeared that fact wouldn't have lasted more than a moment.

Wild and untidy looking hair framed three identically sharp faces, two of them sharper with the influence of their father while Katsu's smoother features held more of his mother's influence. Three sets of similarly gleaming dark gray eyes were set in their tanned faces, and had it not been for the softer set of Katsu's face and his lack of the Inuzaka clan markings and Takashi's more demanding and fierce nature, Eri knew that even she would have had a hard time telling them apart. Most still did anyways.

"Ah, Mom, we were just playing." Takashi said, letting go of his brother and helping him up so that the three of them could stand there as a single -and filthy- unit.

"Yes, I know." Eri sighed, knowing it was true. She couldn't really understand it, but for some reason her children bonded with one another by beating each other up. She supposed it was a testosterone infused Inuzaka thing, so she usually left it alone until one of them got seriously injured. Kiba certainly treated it all like it was normal, even joining in for some of the playful tussling at times. "I was asking about the mud, young man. Not only is that _not _out hose, but it is cold out here and none of you are wearing sufficient covering for how cold it is."

"Sorry." They one by one muttered, looking guiltily down at the ruined ground. Eri sighed and rolled her eyes skyward, moving back to hold open the back door for the trio.

"It's fine. Now take your shoes off before you come inside and go upstairs for a bath. I'll let you get in together, but if you make a mess again," Of course they would, "You need to make sure you clean it up." With a united whoop of joy -at least the boys enjoyed baths, something that made up a bit of the frustration their constant ability to become dirty at the toss of a hat came with- the boys threw their promises back towards her as they hurtled across the house and into the bathroom where they promptly piled into the bath she drew for them in the sizable tub they could practically swim in (a necessity for bathing Akamaru).

Knowing that she didn't want to actually cook anything and also knowing that the boys could probably use something warm after playing in the cool weather, Eri simply got out a couple of cans of soup and poured them into a pot after she had changed into a pair of sweats and one of Kiba's old shirts that she had stolen. A few minutes later the man himself was walking into the house, smiling at her when she looked up at him and the forgive me, I'm too cute written on his expression as obvious as it had been on the boys earlier.

"And where were you?" She asked mildly as he sat down at the kitchen table, watching her make her tea for a moment.

"Hana gave me a call to tell me about a couple litters of pups that are about to be born. She figured that since it's about time to find partners for them it would be a good thing if I came down to start getting everything set up." He shrugged, "So I went down there to check it out. The pups will be born in a week or two, and after another week we'll introduce them and see which ones want each other."

"And if there aren't any dogs that accept one of the boys?" Eri asked as she sat a cup down in front of Kiba before taking her own seat, truly curious but also a bit fearful. She didn't want her boys being hurt anymore than they had to be, and she had a feeling that if they didn't find their partners on the first try they might very well be brokenhearted and feel as if they had let her and Kiba down.

"We'll wait for another bunch to be born. It has happened, you know, and if it does it will be fine. A partner was always found in the end." He assured her. She sighed and nodded, shoving that away to focus on the other question that had been bothering her.

"Alright. But what made you think that leaving our sons alone with a hose was a good idea?" He blinked at her question, his eyebrows knitting slightly in confusion.

"I asked the lady next door to keep an ear on things to make sure that they didn't get too quiet or too loud since I knew that I'd only be gone about five or ten minutes, but I didn't leave them with a _hose_. I'm not stupid." He sighed, shaking his head. "...What did they do with the hose?"

"Not too much," Eri said, hiding her smile behind her cup, "They just made a mud pit in the backyard and wrestled with each other for a little while, and now they're cleaning up in the bath. Speaking of which, can you go check up on them and make sure they clean everything up while I finish with dinner."

After Kiba had done as she had asked and after they had all eaten, Eri watched each of the boys' faces light up at the fact that they could very soon be getting their own ninken and she couldn't help but smile at their too loud and overly excited questions, and their absolute sureness of their acquiring a partner that made her forget about her reservations.

* * *

Eri watched from the window as dozens of puppies wrestled with one another and ran around the enclosed yard of the Inuzaka's veterinary clinic and kennel, keeping one eye on the three boys who were sitting by themselves on a fence separated from each other by about five feet of distance, while the other eye remained on the dogs as she wondered how all of it was all going to work out. There were too many dogs out there and she couldn't figure out how one would suddenly mesh with one of her sons magically.

"Calm down," Hana murmured beside her, watching through the window as well, "It'll happen."

"Okay..." Eri said doubtfully, still unsure. "It's just-" But even as she spoke she saw a ball of white fur with a curled fluffy tail and slightly bent ears bound away from the pack all the other puppies had formed, skidding to a stop in front of Takashi to stare up at him for a moment before yapping at him. Takashi grinned and puffed out his chest a bit at the fact that a dog had chosen _him _first and knelt down on the ground in front of him. He was just about to introduce himself -something his mother had told him was the best and most polite thing to do when meeting someone new- when the puppy jumped up and bit his nose.

Falling backwards he lifted his hand and covered the bleeding wound, forgetting about everyone else as he glared at the puppy who seemed to be glaring right back at him. Sending it a murderous scowl he growled out, "So that's how it's going to be?" Before launching himself at the little creature.

The three grownups inside watched the scene in shock for a moment before Eri -who had been moments away from checking to make sure her baby was okay, Hana right behind her with her medical knowledge and bandages- turned to Kiba.

"Did he just...?"

"Bite that dog on the nose after it had done the same to him? Yes."

"He... He just bit a dog. Kiba, our son just bit a _puppy_ in _revenge_. I think that there is something about that that we have to be seriously worried about."

Beside them, Hana was cracking up. "Oh, that's almost as good as Akamaru peeing on Kiba's head when they first met." She snorted, shaking her head before looking at her almost sister-in-law from the corner of her eye. "Stop worrying so much," She told her, "They were probably just trying to figure out who the alpha would be, and I'm pretty sure that Takashi got it. Unlike Kiba."

"What do you mean by that?" Her brother growled, and she smirked at him.

"What I mean is that you're obviously the little-"

"Shh!" Eri interrupted, forcing the siblings to look away and notice that two more dogs were pulling away, both going to Arata.

They paced circles in front of the boy for a few moments, both of them darting towards him to get a good sniff before darting right back, repeating it a few times before they both ultimately pulled away, hurrying back into the safety of the pack of other puppies just before one more broke free to shoot towards the saddened boy, tongue hanging out of its mouth to practically drag behind it, long and pink with a small number of black spots over it. One of its ears was bent while the other stood straight up, its reddish fur sleek and its eyes -not really gold or brown, more of bronze- glowed happily.

The pup finally came to a stop in front of Arata by tripping over it's own paws and tumbling to the ground with a comical expression of shock on its face as it fell that made the boy laugh. When the puppy had finally righted itself it jumped up into Arata's arms, lathering his face with licks and playfully nipping at the slightly curling ends of the boy's hair as it made it evident that he had chosen the boy for his.

Ten more anxious minutes passed before another puppy separated and started towards the boys, heading towards Katsu as if on a leisurely stroll, the two keeping eye contact until the puppy with the pointed ears and pale sable coat with a white underbelly was right in front of him. When the dog sat they retained eye contact for another minute before the puppy rolled onto its back, allowing the now grinning boy to give his stomach a vigorous rub.

"That was certainly anticlimactic." Hana said easily, turning away to go into her little and cluttered office. "Let me just pull their papers, give them whatever shots are left then give you their puppy kibble and we'll be ready to let you go."

Eri nodded and turned to the door as it flew open, banging into the wall behind it as the three boys and the three dogs poured into the room.

"Mom! Mom! Look!" Takashi said loudly, practically shoving the pretty white puppy into her face, "I'm gonna' name it Ginmaru, cus' his fur is kind of silver-ish." He said, proud of his wit, and she smiled at him encouragingly before her attention was caught by Katsu.

"Mine's name is Kinmaru cus' his fur is _actually_ gold, and so is his eyes. And yours' fur isn't silver. It's white." Which of course forced Takashi to whirl around to start yelling at his brother that Ginmaru's fur was silver while their dogs barked at one another angrily. Arata was trying to tell her above the noise that he was naming his Doushokumaru because his eyes were bronze as said ninken raced circles around the group, yapping the whole time.

And Eri watched, realizing that her life was about to get much, much louder.

* * *

And there we are. Takashi's dog (I looked up breeds because I have no life and I research like crazy for these fics, which always makes me feel stupid when I miss things) is a samoyed (pretty) and Katsu's is a sable alaskan malamute. Arata's is just a mutt that I modeled somewhat after my mother's dog.

Dogs' names- I decided to go with the color-maru names like in the manga, so I researched! Gin means silver, though_ giniro_ means silver color. I thought just the gin sounded better, so that is what I used. The same with the Kin instead of kiniro (gold color), and Doushoku means bronze (I wanted to go with gold/silver/bronze theme, and there wasn'y anything that sounded better).

Thank you, my darlings, for the support of my non-failure-ness. You're all so sweet!

Now, my views on the latest Naruto chapter (spoilers ahead!)-

Yeay! Naruto's dad! That's great. But seriously, Kishimoto? After chapters of lovely NaruHina, you had to throw some frimming-framming NaruSaku in there? (I rarely hate pairings and actually like a couple of weird ones on the account of really good fanfics, but I do not like the NaruSaku pairing.) I hope you remember the threat I made earlier, Kishimoto, because if this goes any further you will force me to book a flight with the magical money that grows on the tree in my backyard, and I will go to Japan and will bite you,

It will be painful.

And then there is the thing with Minato magically having the powers of the nine tails fire form-thing, and then stupid Sasuke came back and said that he'll be HOKAGE?! No. No no no.

It upset me greatly, and I can only hope for better news soon.

Toodles, dearlies!


	101. A Handful of Happiness

Hello my lovlies! Guess who just graduated? This girl! And who survived class night (A.K.A Hell)? This girl! And who ever went on the zipline? THIS GIRL RIGHT HERE, PEOPLE!

Well, I suppose that we shall celebrate by a new little chappie, yes? Yes.

This one is for both fearless-forever98 and X-Venom who both wanted some more Mino and Kaya. Here we go, my pretties!

* * *

_Mino supposed that what he was currently doing and the way he was acting __**was**__a bit strange. The pattern he had kept up for the last ten minutes—pacing back and forth in front of the quaint little tea shop before stopping to walk to the door and stand in front of it for a few moments, shifting from foot to foot as his hand hovered over doorknob and then turning away quickly to resume his pacing before doing it all over again—had garnered quite a few looks from passerbys, and he briefly wondered if they recognized him as the youngest of the Hokage's children. If that was so, then he had to figure out a way to explain this to his father in a way that would keep the blonde man from laughing at him for a good twenty minutes. He was already embarrassed enough as it was._

_Taking a breath and determining that this time would finally be it he started back towards the door, his hand hovering over the knob for barely a moment before it was pulled open by someone on the other side of the door to reveal the very reason for his strange behavior standing in front of him._

_Wide burgundy eyes blinked at him for a moment before the shock cleared and joy filled them instead, her smile beaming up at him as she pushed the loose strand of bright orange hair gently away from her face. "Mino-kun! Hello!" She said happily as she moved aside to allow him in, her voice alone easily able to calm his frayed nerves. "Would you like me to make you some tea?"_

_"__Ah... No, sorry. I just need to ask you something before I leave. I... I don't really have too much time." He said, and she nodded in understanding. He took a breath and fidgeted a bit before looking at her nervously, watching the way she tilted her head in adorable puzzlement at his actions with increasing trepidation. _

_"__I... Kaya... Would you like to walk around the festival with me tonight?" He asked carefully, and the girl blinking at him for a moment before sending him the most gloriously beautiful smile he had ever been presented with._

_"__I'd love to, Mino-kun!" She said enthusiastically, " I just need to go ask my mother." And after she had hurried off to do so Mino let out a relieved breath and looked around, noting that the patrons of the shop were all staring and smiling at him. He was studiously ignoring them when Kaya hurried back in, clapping her hands excitedly as she told him that her mother had said that she could go and that she was going to wear her new yukata and smiling at him so brightly that he swore he'd never see the dark again..._

Mino couldn't help but to remember that first time he had asked her to the festival all those years ago as he walked beside her now, both of them comfortable in their little slice of serene silence amidst the happy noises of the annual Hokage festival. Looking at her out of the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but smile at the little pieces of the small girl that had found him in the rain that remained, but also the differences that shined through.

She had grown in the ten years that separated the then from the now, changing from that delicate little girl he had first met into the lovely young lady that now walked gracefully at his side, owning that spot as he knew no other ever would. She still had those same tiny little freckles crossing the bridge of her nose—four on one side and three on the other—and her hair still always went into the same familiar twist with that single piece staying out to gently fame a now older and less childishly-round face. She was only an inch or two shorter than him, and her eyes were still just as wide and were still that same pure and untainted burgundy that had met his and had scared away his demons so long ago.

But the thing that had most stayed the same was the fact that she was still the most beautiful and perfect being he had ever met.

"I thought that you were going to miss the festival again like last year." She told him when she finally spoke up, glancing curiously at the colorful masks that lined one of the stalls. "Did you not have a mission this time?"

"No." He said briefly, using the same tone he always used whenever she brought up anything dealing with his missions. He didn't want her involved even in the slightest bit with such an ugly part of his life. She was too pure, too good, for that. But he did want to tell her just one thing.

"I actually don't think that I'll have too many more missions like that. My partner and I have decided to retire from our current status" He told her shortly, and watched as her forehead furrowed as she tried to figure out just what he meant.

"And this is good?" She asked him, and he smiled at her when he nodded.

"Yes. It means that I'll be going into the jonin ranks, most probably, and will be getting more regular missions and will be able to spend more time at home."

With you.

"That's great!" She enthused as she smiled up at him, happy for his happiness and even happier at the thought that maybe he could spend more time with his friends and family and even with her. And then there was the thought that maybe with this the dark look that shifted in the shadows of his white eyes, shadows that she knew came from the missions he never talked, about to her would go away. That was the thought that made her happiest.

"Yes. Yes it is." He said quietly, nervously slipping his hand into hers as he prayed that she wouldn't pull away and that she wouldn't notice that his hands were slightly sweaty.

They walked like that for a few minutes before Mino chanced a look at her, smiling at the blush that covered her face, just like the blush that covered his, and the way her eyes were nervously lowered. Said eyes rose up to meet his after a moment of his watching her, and they both stared at their equally red faces for a long moment before mirrored smiles—nervous and sweet and the beginnings of so much more—grew on their faces.

"I..." She started, pushing the bit of her loose hair out of her face with her free hand, looking away briefly before quickly looking back when he squeezed her hand questioningly. "I'd like that bear." She told him shyly, pointing to a giant stuffed panda that hung from one of the game stands.

"Okay." He murmured, their fingers linking together somewhat awkwardly and unknowingly—and yet utterly perfectly—as they walked towards the happily smiling bear with the bow around its throat that Kaya would always fondly remember as being the same dark pink of both of their faces that night.

* * *

There we are! The first happened probably just before Mino went off for his "training", so about twelve while Kaya is about nine, and the second part Mino is seventeen while Kaya is fifteen.

And all they do is hand holding people. Seriously, their overly nervous about even that (Mino is so shy and sweet! Even when he's a murdering murderer)

Hello to my new sweeties ScarsofJupiter and JacksonKid3 (You're so sweet!) and a thank you to Hektols who explained the Minato Kyuubi thing to me (made a lot of sense, thanks a bunches!) and then proceeded to give me hope.

Also! I had an allusion to a movie in the last chapter (circa 2002 with lots of snow), and if you know what it was, then brownie points to you!

Toodle-oo!


	102. A Thin Line

Hello sweet ones! Once again I, your beloved Goddess, has returned! And how are you?

Now, I know that there were some questions with chapter 92 about who Anzu got with (obviously, since I just skipped over the entire subject), and so I have decided to bring you the answers here.

It got a bit out of hand, but after a hundred(!) chapters, I'm used to it now.

It still makes me cry sometimes though.

* * *

"Chinatsu! Yumi! Look at my new dress!" Anzu happily cheered as she came up to her two closest friends, twirling so that the pleated skirt of said garment could flare out impressively as she spun. There were the necessary and appreciative 'ooh's and 'ahh's from the two girls, and Anzu grinned at them happily. "My daddy got it for me when he was on an escort mission in Kiri." She told them proudly.

"It's really nice." The little brunette girl with neon green glasses—Chinatsu—told her, the strawberry blonde beside her nodding happily.

"Thanks you two." Anzu said happily, giving in to the temptation to do another little twirl. "I really _really _like it." She confided in them, "In fact, I think this might be my new favorite dr-"

As she had been talking she had been to caught up in her little story to notice the presence coming closer and closer to her until it was too late, the person running into her and slamming into her back, knocking her off of her feet and down into a nearby mud puddle.

Anzu gasped in shock as she felt the muddy water soak into the fabric of her skirt, ruining the pretty white fabric. Jerking her head up she glared tearfully up at the boy who had just knocked her over as he jumped up to race back to the brothers he had apparently been wrestling with.

"My bad!" Takashi called back to her as he ran off, and Anzu's tears quickly evaporated in the heat of her glare.

"_Excuse _me?" She screeched shrilly, the boy jerking to a stop to glance back at her, aggravated.

"I said it was my bad. You know, knocking you over?" He said, speaking to her as if she were a particularly slow child.

"And do you somehow think that that is an excuse?" She shrieked, forcing the Inuzaka boy to wince at just how high-pitched her voice was.

"What? Do you want me to say I'm sorry or something? I'm sorry. There." He said, making as if to turn back around to continue on to his brothers. Anzu growled as she shoved herself up, stomping over to the boy and grabbing his arm to whip him back around, digging her nails in harshly until he narrowed his eyes at her, hissing at the stinging pain.

"Do you really think that a simple _'I'__m_ _sorry'_ that you don't even really mean is going to be enough? You _ruined_ my _dress!"_

"Well, it wasn't like it was all that pretty." He said dismissively, and all of the girls that were sitting in the schoolyard waiting for classes to begin gasped while the boys just shook their heads at the boy's stupidity. Anzu nearly stumbled back at the force of his blow before she narrowed her eyes at him, stepping forward to dig a finger into his chest as she hissed into his face.

"How _dare_ you? How dare you pretend like you have something even resembling a fashion-sense you mentally stunted mutt? Not only do you slam me into the ground and ruin my dress, but then you insult me and my dress? Just who do you think you are?"

He narrowed his eyes at her as he bared his teeth, shoving her back a step so he could get into her face in turn. "And who do you think _you_ are, you little twit?"

Anzu's glare burned brighter as she narrowed her eyes at the boy, hissing at him through her teeth. "Mongrel."

He narrowed his eyes in turn and growled. "Dumb blonde."

"Filthy beast."

"Shallow little girl."

"Stupid little boy."

"Self-centered bitch." He hissed, and Anzu couldn't help her shocked gasp or the step she took in retreat. Just as a victorious smirk started to grow on his face Anzu's hurt fell away to instead be replaced by rage and she stepped forward, her fist snapping out to hit him solidly in the jaw, forcing him off balance to fall to the slightly muddy ground.

Not minding the dirt anymore, at least not in the face of the fury that threatened to consume her, Anzu hitched her skirt up to straddle the boy, fists cracking out as he cursed. She heard the ninken barking and his brothers saying something, but she couldn't quite catch what it was since it was at that moment that one of Takashi's fists came out and hit her soundly on the chin, making her head snap back as she saw stars. They tumbled around on the ground for a few moments before Anzu felt somebody pulling her up and off, easily restraining her swinging arms and legs.

And then she heard those four damning words:

"I'm calling your parents."

* * *

They both sat in uncomfortable wooden chairs with a parent on each side, both of them fidgeting uncomfortably as they glanced from mother to father and then back again, both trying to figure out just how in trouble they were. Anzu flinched as the teacher explained what had happened—fighting and rolling around in the mud were so very unladylike—and she could only hang her head in shame at the thought of what she had done to her pretty white dress her father had just gotten just for her.

It was a travesty. Not even the split lip, the bruised jaw and the blackened eyes she had given to Takashi could ever make up for it.

"_What _did you call her?" A cool voice cut through the air, forcing Anzu's head up as she looked around her father to find that Takashi's mother was staring down at him like he was the most detestable being her ice cold eyes had ever seen, and Anzu's breath couldn't help but catch at just how beautiful and professional and amazing the woman looked.

It was so strange that such demon spawn had come from someone that looked so utterly perfect.

Takashi mumbled the answer under his breath, but sharp glares from both of his parents forced him to repeat it louder. "A bitch. But she hit me!"

"Only because you called me such a mean name!" She protested, her mother just barely able to hold her back.

"Yeah, well you deserved it!"

"Young man." The snap of his mother's voice forced him back from the edge of his seat as he looked up at the frigid face that was nothing more than a pale porcelain mask of the livid beast his mother truly was at that moment. "That does not sound like an apology, which is what _should_ be coming from that mouth of yours right now."

Takashi glared down at the grain of the wood of the floor for a moment before finally muttering out a sorry, and his head was forced up violently when his mother's sharp nails bit into his ear as she jerked.

"I do believe that there is a bit more to it, and you need to say it to her face, young man."

Looking up and wincing slightly from the bite of pain radiating from the hold his mother had on his ear, Takashi glared at the mud covered blonde. "I am very sorry, Anzu. I deeply apologize for my actions." He growled out, and even covered in mud with a bruise coloring her face Anzu managed to look down on the boy.

"I do not accept." She told him shortly, crossing her arms over her chest imperiously. Of course, her mother hissing her name and grabbing onto her arm to insist she do the proper and ladylike thing forced her to reconsider the wording.

"Thank you for the apology." She bit out. "I gladly accept."

And as their parents congratulated themselves on fixing the entire situation and avoiding another fight, Anzu and Takashi's eyes met and they shared a single look that shared their every feeling with one another.

_I utterly despise you,_ their glares told each other. And as they were dragged in the opposite directions of their homes they both knew that pure hatred was the only thing that they would ever feel for each other.

* * *

Nine years later...

"You have got to be kidding me." Anzu muttered to herself when she saw just who had been sent to back her team up for the mission they were on. She had been hoping for someone competent. Someone who would be able to help her team to properly deal with the group of rouge-nin that had taken over the mansion that had once belonged to what had once been an affluent businessman, though his body was now nothing more that a lawn ornament that the nin had set up to stake their claim.

But no. Instead she had been sent Inuzaka Takashi and his brothers, and now their was no way this mission was going to succeed without a migraine and a lot of damage control on her part.

"Oh no, Akimichi, there isn't a joke in sight." Takashi assured her condescendingly as Anzu glared at him, cursing his damned chakra enhanced hearing.

"That's strange." She murmured, crossing her arms over her chest as she cocked her hip, "Because it seems that I'm looking at the biggest joke there is."

They on opposite ends of the little clearing glaring at each other as they built up their arsenal of taunts in their minds to get ready for coming verbal war they were about to have, though they were interrupted by Arata stepping between them, hands raised pacifyingly.

"Children," He sighed, "I do believe that we are on a mission, and that your taunts should wait until _after_ we have apprehended all of the bad guys. Right?" He prompted, looking back and forth between the two. They both nodded sullenly, and Arata shot Anzu the same charming smile that had managed to easily smooth talk a great deal of the available female population into thinking he was irresistible, from what she had heard.

Of course, having known him since before they were in the academy and during the time he was more interested in mud pies that girl—and more importantly knowing his _brother_—Anzu was completely immune.

After that first initial little episode, everything went smoothly as she explained the plan to the boys. Everyone agreed on splitting up the two teams in pairs to better take advantage of the skills that would be necessary, but for the life of her Anzu could not recall how it came about that she and Takashi had ended up paired together.

Though, they did seem to work well together when they stopped arguing.

"Six down this hall." He silently mouthed to her and she nodded, all of them moving at the same instant. Some how they managed to work around each other perfectly, almost as if they had been fighting together for years, Takashi and Ginmaru moving back just when her attacks required for them to do so while she did the same for theirs, all of this done without words or anything more than glancing looks.

In the aftermath while the six enemies lay beaten and subdued on the ground, Anzu's and Takashi's eyes met for a moment in appreciation. Takashi was opening his mouth to give her the first non-snarky remark between them in years when Anzu spotted a strange shift in the shadows behind him.

Pumping her chakra into her fist she forced it and her entire arm to grow, launching it past the unknowing Takashi to pin the seventh nin to the wall, stopping him just in time to stop him from taking out the boy.

Returning her arm back to normal to allow the now unconscious nin to fall to the ground, Anzu whirled around to glare at the Inuzaka fool.

"I thought you said that there were only six! What good are your stupid enhanced Inuzaka senses if they don't even work?!" She hissed, making all of the thankfulness the boy had been feeling fly away, almost as if it had never been.

"What? It isn't like it's my fault that he hid behind this guy's stank right here! He hasn't had a bath in weeks, and it was a little hard to get past that!" He shouted right back at her, both of them marching past the unconscious bodies that lay on the floor to stand toe to toe.

"Oh? Well that stupid mistake of yours almost cost you your life!"

"Ha! Like that guy could have taken me down. As if!" Takashi declared, and Ginmaru sighed at the two's actions as he went to curl up in the corner to wait for them to be done.

"Oh yes," Anzu scoffed, "Because you are _so_ strong and powerful that you would have been able to dodge a hit to the heart from a kunai you hadn't even seen coming."

"You..." Takashi growled, raising his hand threateningly, though Anzu only tilted her chin in a dare as their burning eyes remained connected.

And all of the sudden she felt herself being pushed back into the wall, a hard and demanding mouth covering hers and swallowing up her protests, though the hold he had on her shoulders did nothing to stop her arms from coming between them and shoving him back as hard as she could.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" She hissed as she shoved him once more for good measure before grabbing his shirt in her fists to turn the both of them around, shoving _him_ into the uncomfortable wall and smashing her mouth back onto his, feeling the bite of his hands on her hips as their tongues tangled. They pulled away from each other just once, and that was only so that Takashi could pull a kunai from her pouch to take care of the nin that had stirred and had started to reach for his own weapons, believing the two leaf shinobi to be otherwise occupied.

As their breathing raced and as their hands tangled in hair, mouths bruising one another, they had to wonder at how they had gone from the beginnings of one of their usual bouts of verbal warfare to making out against the wall of an enemy infested mansion while an unconscious group of said enemy lay at their feet.

And then they had to wonder why they hadn't ever thought to end their arguments like this before.

* * *

"I believe that this means Arata owes me his mission pay." Katsu murmured to his partner as they watched his brother and the blonde Akimichi try to devour each other. Kinmaru chuckled—because as all Inuzaka knew, a ninken could very well chuckle if it wanted to—and they both shot a quick look to Ginmaru, and the amused look he sent them assured them that he'd keep an eye on the two of them in case it escalated too far.

When the two of them returned to the grouping of the two teams minus their accomplished and currently entangled leaders, Anzu's two teammates sent the Inuzaka and his partner questioning looks when they noticed that said leaders were nowhere to be seen. Arata only had to see the mocking light in his brother's eyes and the laughing one that filled Kinmaru's to make the correct assumptions.

"Damn it." He groaned, seeing all of his pretty mission pay flying away. "Couldn't they just hold onto their hormones for another month or two?"

"Oh, afraid not." Katsu said easily, gloating happily. "Now lets leave them alone for a bit. No need to ruin them before they even really begin."

"A month's worth of mission pay says differently." Arata muttered, but he still went after his brother when he turned to leave the building, the two clueless boys from Anzu's team following them upon a sea of confusion.

* * *

Okay, as soon as my darling Kathy paired the two of these up I knew that they would hate each other as children, but the whole making out in the hall way? It escalated quite quickly, along with Anzu's character. She became more headstrong and violent (only when provoked!) than I had thought of her as, but I suppose that she would have had to be growing up with Ino as her mother and Ringo as... Ringo.

Thank you all for the congratulations for my graduating, and now to say a "howdie-doo" to my newest sweeties-

Arch-Magos Winter- Shino... Well, I just can't see myself writing him. I don't feel comfortable with his character (if you can understand what I'm saying, maybe?), but in honor of one of my favorite Naruto fanfics _Into the Future_, I paired him with Hana. He'll probably make an appearance in some chapters, but I really cant see myself writing him.

stronger13- Thank you!

And now to others-

JacksonKid3- Of course you can! I'd actually love for you to comment on each of my chapters, because everything you kind souls have to say to me just makes my day soooo much better! And all of these questions and more will be answered, in later episodes of _"Naruto Ever After"_ (haha, I said that in a funny TV man voice in my head.)


	103. Too Dark to Hope

Hello, my sweeties! How has life been treating you?

Now, this is finally the whole story behind Jiro and Mino's training that I started way back in chapter 72. I actually started this chapter immediately after that, but I hit a road block and moved on until after the last chapter when I brought it back, done some major plastic surgery on it, and got this.

Now, the council-peoples here are not the same as the manga has now. I figure that when Naruto got the position as Hokage, due to a "difference of opinions" the old councilors retired and chose two others to take their place, and it is these two nameless people that are the councilors in this story (If you have a name you think fits them, tell me and I'll give it to them, otherwise they will remain nameless (Yeay! audience participation!))

xFallingxCastlexWallsx requested I go more in dept with this, so here you go my darling!

* * *

"Yes, Mom, I promise that I'll make sure to get some more sleep before I go to the hospital again. I'll sleep right now, I promise!" Jiro called back, closing the door to his room behind him bodily as he leaned against it, tired from the long and exhausting long day.

"You look like something those mutts brought in on their filthy paws after one of those ridiculous runs of theirs." Dango lazily drawled as he threaded through the boy's legs, twisting around his ankles. "And in case your addled brain is wondering what it is that I'm talking about, it's crap. You look like crap, little boy."

Jiro chuckled and shoved off of the door to bend down and pick up the cat, straightening with a grateful groan when his back popped.

"Yeah, well, a bunch of chunin and jounin teams came back to the village severely injured all at once, and they needed all of the available trained medic nin to help. That's why Mom and I haven't been home or have had a break in," He looked at the clock and groaned again, "Dear God, nine hours. I nearly passed out, which is why I promised Mom that I would get some..." Turning his head, he led off slowly when he noticed the scroll that lay serenely in the center of his bed.

"...Sleep. Dango, what is this?"

"Oh that?" The cat summon yawned as he turned over in his arms, bored. "It's some scroll that a ridiculously masked ninja left. It was a pig, or something like that. Maybe an obese and particularly ugly dragon."

Jiro sat down on the edge of the bed, settling Dango down into his lap with a glare so that he could reach for the scroll. "And you didn't think to even try to stop the strange ninja who broke into my room?"

"No. There was no killing intent, and I was in the middle of a very nice nap."

Jiro sighed and shook his head, opening up the scroll to look over the plain script with gritty eyes that begged for sleep.

_Hatake Jiro,_

_The council members require your presence to discuss additional training in their offices in the Hokage building at nine tonight._

And instead of the Hokage seal that would be placed at the bottom of the scroll, it was left simply blank.

"My, my, my, isn't that suspicious?" Dango purred, eying the letter. Jiro didn't even bother asking when the cat had learned to read, and instead just nodded. A letter specifically from the council, apparently not having the approval of the Hokage's office and talking about "additional training"? It was... strange.

Jiro sighed and flopped back, grunting slightly when Dango settled onto his stomach. "I don't want additional training." He muttered, throwing his arm over his eye. And it was absolutely true. He was a seventeen year old chunin who was perfectly content with his place in life as a trained medic nin who preferred to spend his time in the hospital, though he went on missions when it was required of him, and he had no aspirations of aspiring to be anything more.

"Yes, but the letter does say that it is required. So stop your whining and get some sleep. I'll wake you up when you need to go, and then you can whine to people who might care."

Jiro chuckled and realized that he was surprisingly comfortable where he was, so he decided to stay just like that, to tired and comfy to move. Scratching the black summon's head, Jiro let his eyes slide closed.

"Thanks." He murmured before slipping away for some much needed sleep.

* * *

"Hey." He heard a familiar—and annoying—voice call to him as something—a paw—batted at his nose. "Hey, boy. Get up already."

He did so with a groan and a spine cracking stretch, rubbing his grainy eyes with his hand.

"What time is it?" He asked, his mouth feeling as if it had been filled with cotton.

"Oh... Almost nine." The cat drawled lazily, hissing at him when he was thrown away suddenly as Jiro jerked upright.

"I'm supposed to be meeting the councilors in..." He glanced over at his clock, "Twenty minutes! Fuck!" He cursed as he hurried across the hall and into the bathroom while pulling off the clothes that were wrinkled from sleep and smelled like the hospital. He wanted to pull some new clothes on and brush the stale taste out of his mouth, at least.

"Language, little boy. If your mother heard you, she'd send you right through that wall. Admirable woman, your mother."

"Yeah, she's great!" Jiro spat out as he stumbled back into the room, pulling on his shoes. "Flippin' fantastic! Best mother ever! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"You just looked so pitiful that I _had _to let you sleep a bit longer." The cat said as he stretched lazily across the bed, settling in for another bit of sleep. "Oh," He said as Jiro threw his window open, "and make sure that you tell me how this goes when you come back. And do use the door on your way back in. No need to be so barbaric when your not in such a hurry, especially if it will wake me up."

Jiro shot a glare towards the cat and slipped away, running as fast as he possibly could to get to the Hokage tower in time for the meeting.

He got there with barely a breath of time remaining, stumbling into the wall beside the door as he caught his breath. When he finally caught it and knew that he wouldn't be panting every word in what Dango would surly tell him was an absolutely undignified way, he knocked on the door and let himself in when a voice called for him to do so.

Inside the office the two council members sat at a table in cushy chairs that were placed side-by-side, and tea was set up on the table in front of them. There were two other seats that were set up on the other side of the table, and Jiro noted that someone was sitting in one. A thin little blue-haired boy occupied it, staring at him with big white eyes that almost seemed to look through him.

The Hokage's youngest? This was getting stranger and stranger, and his curiosity was now beginning to get the better of him.

"Council members," He said, nodding to them formally, "May I ask why I was called here at such an hour?" When all of the regular workers were gone, unless they worked the occasional bout of overtime, he added silently.

"We will explain that to you in a moment, Hatake-san. Along with young Uzumaki-san, here." The woman said, motioning for him to take the spare seat.

Jiro watched the two of them for a moment while she served up the tea before turning his attention to the younger boy beside him. Mino was only thirteen and had only just graduated fro the academy that day. He hadn't even been placed in a genin team yet. What could the two of them have to do with the council and _"__training"_?

"You have already voiced your questions about why you are here, Hatake-san, and you undoubtedly have some that you do not wish to voice, Uzumaki-san," The councilwoman murmured after she had given them both their tea, which Jiro knew would remain untouched. Neither of them were here for a tea party, and he just wanted it to be over with as soon as possible. "And now is the time to answer those questions." She took a breath and folded her hands on her lap.

"We have known since the two of you were little that you excelled beyond your peers." She started. "While your parents wished to keep you from training too rigorously at too young of an age and losing your childhood, which we of course understood," Jiro nearly snorted at that and the fake sincerity she had threaded so easily through her voice, "Now that you have both reached the necessary age we have decided that it would be best for you to go forward with the training we have had planned out for you. For the good of the village."

"I'm sorry," Jiro said, doubt evident in his voice, "I really don't see how any training you could give us could be relevant in any way to the good of the village."

"_We _would not be giving you the training." The councilman said, finally speaking up. "And this training is important for the village for the same reason that no one will ever know of it. Because you will have to do things for the village, for the _good _of the village, that no one else will be able to. Things that no one else will understand, perhaps not even the other shinobi. Things that it would be best the village was not fully connected with."

"And my father won't know of it." Mino quietly murmured, the other three jumping at the surprising sound of his voice. The woman sighed and hung her head slightly as if in shame, though Jiro knew better.

"No, the Hokage will know only that you were sent away for additional training, but not what that training entails. And whatever missions you receive... He may figure it out eventually, but he will not be able to stop you if you choose this path." She said quietly.

Jiro knew then that they could not do this. Absolutely not. If he couldn't tell his parents, if it had to be hidden from the Hokage himself because he would protest, then there was no way that they could do this. But just as he was opening his mouth to protest he felt a pressure on his foot and looked down to see that Mino was, for some reason, pressing his foot down on top of his slightly, stopping him from speaking.

"We will need to think it over." The dark haired boy said quietly, and the two councilors nodded almost eagerly, ushering the two boys out and telling them to take their time, to make sure that they came to the right decision.

Once outside of the building they walked side by side down the sidewalk in silence, neither really knowing where they were going or caring where they would end up, more focused on thinking everything over than anything else. And then, once again, the little blue haired boy spoke up quietly, almost silently.

"I think we should do it."

Jiro stopped and turned to him, eyebrows rising at not just the fact that this was the most he had ever heard the boy speak but also the fact that he wanted to go forward with the council's beyond shady plan.

"I don't really think-" Mino stared at him for a moment until he stopped, his white eyes glowing eerily in the dark.

"The training can not hurt us, not if it will make us stronger to protect the village. And not if I tell my father, which I will, no matter what the councilors think. And if we wish to stop, we will. They will have no control in this, even if they believe that they do."

Jiro blinked at the younger boy, surprised at just how manipulative this entire thing was, coming from a thirteen year old. He could certainly respect the boy for that, especially now that he had gotten him thinking about the entire thing.

"I _could_ learn some new medical jutsus." He murmured to himself, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he thought it over. Mino continued to stare at him until he sighed, sending him a smirking smile.

"Fine. It probably wont hurt to try it, I guess."

Mino nodded and sent him a small smile that almost wasn't there before turning to go back to the Hokage tower. "We have to tell my father first. He should still be fighting with his paperwork in his office." He said quietly, and Jiro shrugged, following the small boy to a world that neither of them at that point even remotely understood.

* * *

The councilors were pouting. The Hokage and his wife were glaring at them, as were Jiro's parents, and when they weren't glaring they were worrying over the entire thing and the decision the two boys had made.

"Jiro, are you _sure _that you want to do this?" His mother asked for what seemed to be the one-thousandth time, and he just barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. There was no need for him to make her mad at him and probably hurt him severely just before he left.

"Yes Mom, I promise. I'll learn a few things, get some real world experience, and then I'll be back before you could even miss me." He told her, looking to his father—who was acting just the same as he always had, thank God—for help.

"To late for that." He heard his mother mutter just before bringing him into a tight hug, holding on to him as if he would disappear if she let go, which he supposed was what was going to happen. His father came up behind him and ruffled his hair a bit like he had always done when he was younger before setting his hand on his shoulder to squeeze slightly and force the boy to meet his uncovered eye, both of them sharing a brief and firm look that communicated all that needed to be said.

He glanced away after a minute and over to the side to see that Mino was going through much of the same treatment as he was, though his father was also actively participating in the strangling hug alongside his wife.

"Okay," Hinata sighed as she pulled away from her youngest—oh dear God, her baby—and wiped at the tears that threatened her eyes, framing the boy's face with her slim hands as she stared down at him. "If you need anything, you just write us and don't be afraid to ask for whatever it is. If you feel like quitting we'll be okay with that too, and you just come right back home as soon as you need to." She told him sternly, waiting for him to nod before pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"And you," She said quietly as she turned to glare at the shocked councilors—this was the Hokage's sweet and gentle wife? "If anything happens to my son I will hold the both of you personally responsible, and I will _hurt _you."

Jiro's eyebrows raised at this very unexpected side to the gentle woman he had always thought of as a sort of aunt, but couldn't help but smile when his mother made some promises of her own. Very violent and very _graphic _promises dealing with multiple parts—sensitive parts—of the councilors' bodies.

God, he loved his mother. And now... and now he was leaving to train for who knows how long, and he wouldn't be able to see her or his father or his sister or any of the ninken for... He didn't actually know how long he'd be gone. He would be alone, never mind Mino because at times it was basically the same thing.

He didn't want to go.

As if sensing his sudden indecisiveness Mino turned his head towards Jiro so that their eyes met, and Jiro couldn't decide if the boy was trying to intimidate him into going or if he was trying to communicate that he didn't have to. Either way, he knew that no matter how much he now felt like the little boy who shuffled down to his parents' bedroom during blackouts and loud thunderstorms for comfort and the need of his mommy and daddy, he was still going to go. A part of him knew that he _had _to go.

Nodding to Mino to convey this, the younger boy nodded back and they both shouldered their packs, alerting their parents—who were still glaring distrustfully at the council members—to their intentions to leave.

"I'm not happy about this," Naruto growled, glaring back at the councilors one last time as he pulled Hinata into his arms in what Jiro thought to be a rather obvious attempt at holding himself back from attacking the foolish elders. "Especially since you won't even know who's training you until you meet up with him at wherever it is the old bats are sending you."

"He is extremely skilled, I assure you, Hokage-sama." The councilwoman grit out, obviously disliking being called an "old bat". "And you can trust him to do well by the children."

After a few more minutes of glaring parents and saddened goodbyes the two boys found themselves walking away, leaving the village behind with a sense of excitement and a tickling of foreboding.

* * *

After a few days of travel, the councilor's directions had become increasingly vague, the last instruction on the scroll just being to run south-easterly through the forest that they were now in. They were tired, had been traveling for days on end and were almost out of the food they had packed since they had expected their journey to end at least two-and-a-half days before, and all they both wanted to do was somehow find out where they were going and when they might get there.

The sun's light was just beginning to wane when, without a rustle or a breath of warning, kunai flew through the air at them seemingly from all directions. Pure instinct was all that kept the two of them from being skewered as they dodged and deflected as quickly as they could, though no matter how many of the projectiles were knocked away or narrowly missed more continued to come. There was a single breath of time when the barrage stopped and they stood in tense silence waiting for the attacker to act again and hopefully show where he was hiding, but then the hidden exploding tags on the fallen kunai on the ground activated and sent the world into chaos.

The force of the explosions knocked them off of their feet and sent the two of them careening into a world of heat and fire. Jiro's head hit the ground with an echoing thud as he discovered that the dirt felt more like cement while Mino twisted his wrist rather violently trying to catch himself. And just when they dared to believe that they had regained their footing—shaky as it was—kunai sped towards them through the smoke and heat, pinning them to the trees that stood stiffly behind them.

Gasping and coughing, choking on the bile and blood that rose in their throats, they watched as a lone figure walked calmly through the chaos that had been made of the forest that had, no than three minutes ago, been perfectly peaceful and untouched.

The man that came forward towards them was huge, though not necessarily in body but more in presence. Thick hair that blended with the darkness that was rapidly beginning to surround them ran down his back, amazingly un-mussed even after all of his previous strenuous activity while he played with and then pinned down the two boys. He didn't even seem to be breathing heavily or sweating, and he had the audacity to simply stroll to them as if he didn't have a single care in the world—as if the two boys weren't pinned up against the trees bleeding to death by his own hand.

But what stood out most to the two boys was the chillingly sadistic grin that split his face and seemed to glow maliciously in the darkness.

"So," The man drawled as he came up to the two sagging forms of the boys, rocking back and forth on his heels as he studied them. "You're the little leaflets that were sent to me?" The two boys blinked, unable to comprehend what the man was saying, only able to understand that they were dying, truly dying at the hands of this madman.

"Well, I gotta' say that it's a disappointment that you twos weren't more fun, but I'm guessing that that's why yous were sent you to me, huh?" He paused for a moment before nodding as if their silence had been an agreement of some sort, and then the man stepped forward and viciously pulled out one of the kunai—an abnormally long kunai, Jiro hazily noted, one so long that the blade had managed to go all the way through his body to imbed in the tree with the handle and a bit of blood stained metal still visible.

One by one the stranger tore the weapons out of the boys until they were free, both of them falling down and sagging into the ground, their blood seeping into the dirt and creating a sickly dark mud beneath them. Jiro gasped and stared into the wide white eyes that gazed back at him, frightened and muddled with pain, and he was glad that he wasn't going to die alone.

The man crouched down beside the pink haired boy and slapped him across the face a few times, sighing as he became annoyed at the lack of response. "Geeze, look how pathetic the twos of you are. A little blood loss and you're already crying and calling it quits. You really do need my help." He sighed again and Jiro watched as his hands began to glow with a familiar green tinge and as those hands touched him Jiro was met with a scorching heat that left a bitter and almost acidic burning pain behind to linger in the wounds, so different than any other healing chakra he had ever known.

He heard Mino gasp beside him as he received the same treatment and suddenly they were being hauled to their feet by the man, shaky as newborn foals as they tried to catch their balance and keep their feet underneath them.

"Alright then, let's get going." The man growled irritably, shoving them in the direction he wanted them to go and forcing them to nearly tumble back down to the ground before they managed to catch themselves.

After a few minutes of walking Jiro lifted a hand up to the worst of his barely healed wounds, about to send a slim shot of chakra into his system to start to heal himself, but suddenly his feet were tripped out from under him as a fist hit his side with the power of an avalanche, forcing him to the ground. Once more finding himself nothing more than a twisted heap of limbs on the ground as he coughed up a mixture of vomit and blood, Jiro looked up and into the eyes of the man he could have sworn to be a demon.

"Stop being such little pansy asses. If you can't even walk a few miles with a little bit of blood and pain, I certainly don't see how you're going to survive my training." Jiro spit out a mouthful of blood next to the man's foot, glaring up at him with a sharp hatred that far surpassed any other emotion he felt at that moment, even pain.

"Who the _hell _are you?" He gritted out, feeling overwhelmingly murderous as the man's sadistic grin grew wider.

"Me? I'm you're god, little boy. I have the power to make every breathing second of your lives excruciating and terrifying from now on, which I will happily and easily be doing. I will be in your every nightmare and your every fear, in every shadow and around every corner that you walk by. I will be your entire pitiful little world so long as I allow you to live it." His were lit with feverish glee as he looked down at the pair sprawled before him, looking up at him with a familiar and heady mixture of fear and hatred that gave him a near euphoric high.

"You can just call me Kami, Pinkie."

* * *

The place they would be training was just a little cottage that sat on a bluff facing the sea, a truly beautiful sight that the two boys would have been able to appreciate more had they not been exhausted and slightly dehydrated along with being in more pain than they had ever been in before. The only reason neither had died of blood loss was because of Kami's amazingly adept healing that, while painful and while it would leave purposeful scars, was quick and precise and kept them both alive.

They were dragged into the quaint little home and thrown into a small room with only a crack of a window for light that housed nothing more than two cots that were covered with two worn and threadbare blankets and two thin pillows. The door slammed was shut behind them with a menacing laugh on their apparent new sensei's part, but they didn't pay it any mind as they sank into the two little beds that now belonged to them for God—or even more accurately, Kami—new how long.

"This was a mistake." Jiro managed to croak hoarsely into the silent and agreeing darkness just before he fell into an exhausted sleep.

* * *

"You twos weren't too bad today!" Kami said jovially as he led the two boys away from the destruction of their front yard and back into the little cottage, and coming from him it was a compliment of almost epic proportions.

Seven months had passed since the boys had first been violently introduced to the heartless brute of a man, and they had not been forgiving or easy months. The first month and a half was spent with Kami just attacking the two helpless boys before they finally managed to even remotely fight back, eventually getting to where they could last an entire thirty minutes against the man, though even then they had gone to bed each night in excruciating pain. But because of that, they had found that their tolerance for pain had become exceptionally high, especially when the the man had dubbed them ready for the torture training that had started just the month before.

Kami's training was horrendous and painful and unexpected, but Jiro supposed that it was getting the results that the council had been aiming for. Along with their raised tolerance with pain and their now formidable strength and newer more vicious attacks, they had also been forced to learn how to react quicker, a lesson neither of the boys had liked even the slightest bit but one that Kami had found unendingly amusing.

That particular training had started when they had been walking back to the cottage one day, both of the boys suffering and tired and not really all that suspicious of how close Kami had led them to the cliff's edge because they had no reason to be. At least, they had no reason to until the man shoved them off of said cliff and into the thrashing water dozens of feet below.

He had laughed as he had dragged them out ten minutes later, just barely saving the pair from drowning. The salt water burned their wounds and noses, and the cocktail mixture of it and the mucus and bile that rose in their throat left them gagging, tears streaming down the both of their faces as Kami explained to them that until they managed to hone their "pathetic pansy reflexes", he was going to be doing stunts like the one he had just pulled. He said that if they wanted him to stop, they'd have to do it themselves.

It took weeks of having their beds set on fire while they slept, having nearly invisible razors thrown at them while they bathed, having a frying pan thrown at them randomly and having hidden pits filled with spikes and snakes set at numerous points in the yard—just to name a few of the "training tactics" Kami had employed—before the boys finally managed to get it where their bodies reacted faster than their minds could, something that was celebrated by them once again being pushed off of the cliff, though this time they managed to evade the initial attack and save themselves from the fall.

Poisons had been introduced into numerous meals, and while Jiro had went through some mild poison training when he was younger it was nothing compared to what Kami gave them. And Mino... It was even worse for him since he had never went through any form of the training before. The worst part was that Kami expected them to be able to fight him easily—or as easily as they could—while the shivers wracked their bodies and the cold sweats slicked their skin as the nausea turned their stomachs and dis-coordinated their limbs.

And now, after another one of their usual fights, Kami led them into the small windowless room that served as their little torture room. It was usually done after a fight because, as the man sometimes reminded them, the enemy wouldn't be nice and wait for you to catch your breath after beating your ass to start searching for information, though sometimes it was done in the middle of the night when they were forced awake by the pain and the tightening restraints, though that was only for the unexpected aspect of it.

The boys stripped and then they didn't bother to fight as their torturer—their _teacher_—secured their wrists into the stocks that hung from overhead. They knew better than to do that since if they even thought to do so he would only drag the entire experience on for such an excruciatingly long time. They had learned that lesson, and had learned it well.

"Twenty extra minutes added on for each noise." Kami cheerfully reminded them as he picked up the first implement from the tray he had set out and the boys nodded, relaxing their bodies as they tried to focus their breathing.

Later that night both boys were settling in for bed when Jiro looked up to see Mino attempting to cut his own hair with one of his kunai.

"Stop! You're going to mess something up majorly, and then neither of us will hear the end of it from Kami." He said, motioning the younger boy to him, "I'll do it."

Mino nodded—neither of them wanted to hear all the jokes the man would be able to come up with—and went to where Jiro was sitting on the bed, crouching down between his legs so that he faced the wall while the nuisance of his hair was taken care of. They shared few words, but they liked it like that. They both preferred the settled quiet to the irritating rasp of an intruding voice, especially if that voice was Kami coming to see what all the noise was about.

"I'll cut yours." Mino offered, but as Jiro fingered the strands that now brushed past the lobes of his ears and tickled the nape of his neck, he shook his head.

"Nah, that's all right. I think I might just try growing it out a bit." He told the boy, and Mino nodded before moving away.

* * *

A year or so into their training Kami had taken to giving them little mini-missions that he would grade them on based on how he thought they were supposed to do, and Jiro had found himself on one such mission. One he didn't actually mind being on.

He was to break into a hospital just outside of Amegakure, an extremely difficult task in it's own right due to the sheer amount of security the place insisted to have, and find where they hid the more precious medicines and antidotes to find a particularly rare one that the village held in close secrecy, one that the Daimyo of the land had apparently taunted another with, leading to the thievery.

Jiro was planning on studying it a bit and pocketing some, something that Kami had almost seemed proud of when he had told him.

Now there was a scary thought.

As he slipped into the massive building, he noticed that he would be extremely noticeable if he didn't do something quick. Everyone was either wearing patient smocks, nurses uniforms or doctor's coats, and his standard shinobi clothing would stand out brighter than a neon sign. Looking around quickly he spotted what had to be the break room, and within it there was a very convenient coat thrown over the back of a chair, forgotten in the owner's cursing attempts to get the coffee maker working.

As Jiro slipped through the halls, now securely hidden in plain sight with his simple disguise, he felt how... right it was. In all of the training he had nearly forgotten that his whole life's goal was to be a doctor and to save lives, and smoothing his hand down the crisp fabric of the coat he determined that he would not forget it again.

Getting the medicine was surprisingly easy, but he found that slipping out was not so since it seemed like someone had realized that the hospital didn't employ any doctors with pink hair. However, the fights were so easy it bordered on ridiculous, and the realization that Kami's training was actually _worth _something was... astounding. Once he had ran the miles it took to get back to said man—miles that didn't even leave him slightly breathless—he went to hand him one of the vials to give to the employer but found that he was too busy studying him like he was some kind of puzzle.

"What?" Jiro bit out, practically shoving the vial into the older man's hand. He smiled at him, that same twisted and creeping smile that the boys had come to hate so desperately, and then motioned to the now slightly blood-spattered coat that Jiro had forgotten he was wearing.

"I like it. It's morbid and creep-a-fying. You should keep it." He told him happily before turning and walking away, leaving the pink haired boy to stare down at himself with almost blank eyes.

* * *

"I've got a special bit of training for you twos!" Kami said cheerfully as he came into the small sitting room turned weapons room where the boys were doing maintenance.

"What training?" Jiro asked as he held up one of the specially made kunai to the light, thumbing the razor edge to test it.

"Torture." Kami said simply, ushering the two to stand up and hurry into the little room, grinning widely and fidgeting almost like a proud mother who wanted to show off her child's accomplishments. He pulled the door open with a grin that set the two boys on edge and revealed to them the same room that they visited at least once a week for their lessons looking just as it always had with the bleak walls and the slightly blood stained wood.

And everything was exactly the same, all but for the wide-eyed and gagged man who was hanging from the restraints that the boys had been in far too many times to tell.

"You've graduated from gettin' to givin'." Kami said almost proudly as he shoved the boys forward the necessary step to enter the room.

"B-But we don't know-" Jiro started to desperately protest, but Kami shook his head.

"Of course you know! I've done it to you enough times that you should know it backwards, forwards and upside down by now! Just do what I did, and you'll do fine. All you need to do is get a bit of information from him about the numbers of the rouge sect he's from." Kami started to slide the door closed, but paused to smile at them one last time, almost supportive. "I'll even give you an hour and a half since this is the twos of yous first time." He said graciously before closing the door all of the way.

Jiro was hyperventilating.

He couldn't do this. He couldn't torturethis man. He was supposed to be training to get stronger, to be able to protect and heal and become what he had always dreamed of being. He could not bring unjust harm, not when he was supposed to be healing.

But looking around the room, glancing into Mino's equally terrified eyes that were just able to hide it better, Jiro as suddenly assaulted with all of the memories. The cuts and the burning and the screams that eventually filtered away to just groans after so many long months. The pain. Oh God, the pain.

All they had to do...

Reaching out with a hand that trembled slightly, Jiro grasped the first of the instruments Kami had laid out for them, more familiar with it since it seemed that Kami used more often on him. He knew just how much it hurt at what depth and what pressure, and just the places to go for.

Taking a breath and meeting the frightened man's eyes, Jiro felt his hand steady as he took that step forward.

* * *

Jiro looked up at the gate that he hadn't seen in what seemed to be a dozen lifetimes, and tightened his grip on the strap of his pack, swallowing hard.

Two and a half years. That was... That was forever. That was long enough for his hair to grow down to brush past his shoulder blades when he pulled it back away from his face. That was long enough for Mino to grow to just an inch or two short of his height, his blue hair now falling partially forward to hide eyes that were even stranger than before.

Long enough for them to learn that they had never should have left, and that it was now too late to ever go back.

Managing to silently communicate through the odd bond that they had formed, they both stepped forward at the same time and walked through the gates to make their way almost fully unnoticed to the Hokage's tower, both of them nodding to the shocked Eri as she let them into the Hokage's office.

"Eri, where did that pen go? The one with that little ball that goes through the maze in it? I think that it'll help me with my paperwork." Naruto said carelessly as he doodled swirls boredly over a once blank piece of paper. He glanced up when he sensed that his assistant wasn't alone, and blinked at the sight that he was met with.

"MINO!" He shouted as he practically threw his chair back into the wall, jumping over the desk to get to his son and draw him into a suffocating hug.

"Hello... Dad." Mino managed to choke out as his father squeezed, and Jiro looked back to see Eri going away, probably to contact everyone else.

Five minutes was all it took for his mother to get there, wearing the uniform that she always wore to the hospital as she burst through the window, barely raking her eyes over Mino before they settled onto her son.

"Hey Mom." He said lamely, holding out his arms as his mother tackled him so that he could catch her. He didn't remember her being quite so... small.

"You...! You...! You haven't wrote in months! What is _wrong_ with you? And... You're hair! It's so long and... You've been gone for so long!" She practically screamed, pulling back to grip his arms and attempt to shake him as she glared up at him, though she found him to be immovable.

"Yeah, sorry about that." He said as he shrugged, not willing to tell her that he hadn't written because he hadn't wanted to. Because he couldn't. Those last couple of months... Neither of them had wanted any of that to touch their parents.

Jiro smiled at his father when he came in, and he heard Mino's mother giving him basically the same speech that he had gotten, although there seemed to be a lot of tears and hugs and kisses involved in his from both parents.

They suffered through it all with smiles, edging around their questions and giving them hollow answers that no one really believed but answers that everyone grudgingly accepted. But the four parents saw something in the the boys that tore at them, that made them curse themselves for ever letting them go.

Their were pieces of them missing—good pieces, precious pieces—that they knew the boys would never be able to get back, and to see those gaps in their babies nearly brought them all to their knees.

* * *

It was after one of their regular and more mundane missions of torturing information out of a man for the Daimyo, something about some secret trade agreements, that Jiro leaned back against the stump he sitting in front of and, without really giving his words any thought, said, "I'm done."

The words were such a shock to him that his entire body jerked, almost as if he were trying to reach out and bring them back. He blinked for a moment, unsure about everything he had ever known in that beat of time as he questioned if he had really meant it before every thought in his mind shouted out an undeniable _YES_.

He was tired of the blood he forced others to shed and was tired of how good it felt when he did so. He was tired of waking up every morning wondering if he was going to be given another one of his "Special missions", and both looking forward to it and dreading it.

He was tired of being unable to look his parents in the eyes, of being able to feel anything over the numbness that had built up over the years. He was tired of avoiding mirrors because he knew that his reflection was just going to disgust him.

He wanted out. He wanted out more than he wanted his next breath.

He also wanted a cigarette to take the edge off, but he firmly reminded himself that not only did that not work anymore but that he had quit the habit.

"Good. I was almost tired of waiting." Mino quietly said, that dark twist of humor lighting up his pale eyes as he watched Jiro's head whip around comically to stare at him, gaping.

"What? Waiting?" A small smirk twisted the younger boy's lips at the pink haired man's befuddled tone.

"Yes. I've been ready to leave for quite some time, but I didn't want to leave you alone."

Jiro blinked at the boy for a few moments, his words truly touching him. Mino had stayed, had endured the evilness and the depravity of their job, all just so that he didn't have to do it alone. All so that he could keep him as stable as he possibly could.

"Thank you." Jiro quietly murmured, and Mino shrugged, somewhat embarrassed by how heartfelt his words were.

"So... How are we going to do it?" Jiro finally asked after a few minutes of silence between them, the sounds of the crackling of the flames eating through the building they had been working in earlier sounding in the background. "It's not like we can just go to the councilors and say _'We quit'._"

"But that's exactly what we're going to do." Mino murmured, as if there wasn't a doubt in his mind as to how it would work.

"And... And they're not going to do anything?" The older boy dumbly asked. A slight smile danced over the younger's mouth as he shook his head, and staring at him Jiro had a sudden epiphany. "Ah. Hokage's son. Can't exactly go and off you, can they? But what about me? They could contact Kami and get him to come over and do what he does best, and no one will ever be the wiser. Hell, they could actually do that to you too, though it would be suspicious for both of us to go."

Mino shook his head as his eyes flashed again with that same hint slightly twisted humor. "But you see, I've been doing what _I _do best these past few years and have gathered every dirty secrets about the council that are out there. Everything they want hidden, I know, and I have secured all of the information so that if anything suspicious ever happens to either of us, this information will be released."

Jiro blinked at the boy for a few minutes before grinning so widely he swore that his face would split. Not only was that the longest he had ever heard the boy speak in all of the years they had been together, but Mino had spoken the most brilliant and beautiful words that he had ever heard.

"I love you so much right now that I could kiss you." Jiro said quite truthfully, though he only got a blank look in return for his confession.

"I'm flattered, but I do not feel the same."

* * *

As Jiro stepped out of the Hokage building and away from that detestable office for what he swore to be the last time, he stretched his arms above his head and breathed deeply, reveling in the unusual taste of freedom. He knew that he wasn't all the way free—that he would _never_ be all the way free after all he had done—but for just a moment he ignored the monsters that pulled at his shoulders and realized that it was truly a beautiful day.

He looked back at Mino who was glancing up at the sky with an almost painful melancholy expression on his face, and he held out a formal hand with a somber stare.

"It has been a horrific pleasure knowing you, Uzumaki Mino." He said lowly as they shook, their eyes meeting and holding for a single and lead-heavy beat of time.

"The same can be so very truthfully said for you, Hatake Jiro." He murmured back.

And they released each other to turn away, walking forward with their demons dragging at their heels as they vowed to never find their way back again.

* * *

Tada!

A hello and a big thank you to my new baby Rancorium (Ha! You're name is a lot like my father's old WoW and character name and the name he uses for a lot of his online gaming), and to JacksonKid3 who went on to my Deviant Art account to look at the terrible scribbles I have made of these characters and left such lovely comments! (really, the drawings are aweful. They're old and the scanner likes to laugh at my hope and spit it out in my face and make them even more aweful)

And also to my sweet little dear sylversmith, who was such a darling about my story and the way I write, and who said he was shocked when he read that I was just accepted to college. Your comments were lovely, and they made me so wonderfully happy. (And yes, to those who have not been paying attention, I am just seventeen and am just this amazing naturally)

Love and kisses to all of you! Mwah!


	104. Morning After, NaruHina

Hello my lovely darlings! I'm baaaaack!

Here's another chapter, just for you!

* * *

Hinata was a horrible singer.

Naruto fought back the laughter that threatened to overtake him as he discovered this, and just lay back on his bed to listen to her for a few minutes with a huge grin on his face. Of all of the things he had ever thought to find out about Hinata in their relationship, the fact that she couldn't carry a tune hadn't been one of them.

It was adorable, in an imperfectly perfect way.

Naruto sniggered as her voice cracked on another note and stretched his arms above his head. The sudden thought that she was happy enough to be singing made his grin even wider, because thinking about _why _she was so happy reminded him of the night before, and remembering that made him want to giggle like a little girl and do some singing himself.

Last night had been... amazing. And Hinata obviously hadn't hated it, because if she had why would she be singing in his shower?

Naruto had to cover his face with a pillow to smother the sound of his sudden laughter so that Hinata wouldn't hear and stop her singing or question his sanity—he was just so amazingly happy, happier than he had ever really thought about being—and the smell of her that had blended into the cloth over night assaulted him.

And that's when it really hit him.

Hyuuga Hinata was in his shower and was singing after last night, and now his sheets smelled like a delicious blend of the two of them and the pillow he was currently smothering himself with was dominated by her scent of... vanilla and honey and something a little... flowery.

It was delicious, _she _was delicious, and he wondered what she would do if he tried to join her in the shower. Probably stop singing and make that little squeaking noise she always made whenever she got embarrassed, she'd of course blush so red that she'd battle a tomato, and after last night Naruto now knew that when she blushed like that the color spread all the way down to her chest. And she'd probably stutter just the tiniest bit, even though it had been months since she had had any problems speaking other than last night.

Really, she was just too cute.

He heard he stop singing as the water shut off, and if he listened closely he could just hear the sounds of her humming. He sat up when the bathroom door opened, and his grin spread even wider as she stopped in shock once she saw that he was up and that ever predictable blush spread over her face and to the tips of her ears, painting her skin bright red all the way down to where she now desperately gripped the towel she wore.

Spots of her skin still had little specklings of water droplets on it that she had missed while drying off, and the thin towel just barely covered up what was necessary, something that embarrassed her greatly if the way she held it tightly to her chest as she simultaneously tried to stretch it down just a little bit further was telling. Her hair was still damp and the strands stuck together in wet clumps, pieces falling down her back and over her shoulders. He watched as her toes curled and uncurled into the wood of the floor—another one of her nervous habits—and he knew that if her hands hadn't already been occupied she would have been playing with her fingers.

"Hey." He said, holding back a laugh at the way her eyes refused to meet his. There was no reason to make her feel even more self-conscious.

"H-Hello." She murmured as her eyes flicked to him for barely a moment. "G-Good morning, Naruto-kun."

He bit his lip at the little bit of the stutter that had returned and sat up, unable to hold back his small chuckle at the way her eyes immediately went to his chest when the blanket slid down, his male pride swelling at the way she seemed almost glued to the sight before jerking her eyes away at the sound of his brief laughter.

He decided that it would probably be best for him to remain sitting and covered up, at least until she calmed down a bit. There was no reason to make her relapse and force her to faint.

"Are you okay? Does it still hurt?" He asked, and he supposed that _asking _her about it probably wasn't the best way to get her mind off of the things that embarrassed her, but he couldn't help but ask. Sure, she had told him it was fine and that it was normal, but he couldn't help but feel a little concern with the happy that threatened to overwhelm him.

Her blush toned down to a bit of a healthier and pinker color, and she sent him a small smile as she nodded. "Mhmm. I-I'm fine. Just a bit... sore." He nodded and grinned at her, and Hinata couldn't help but grin back. Everything was perfect, absolutely perfect, and she felt like nothing could ruin what she knew would be a wonderful day.

Except, maybe, her dropping her towel, but she was holding onto it so hard that she knew it would be impossible for that to happen.

"Do you want to go out and get some breakfast? We can go to that place that sells those cinnamon rolls you like." Naruto offered, and Hinata nodded happily, sending him a small smile.

They stared there like that for a few long moments before Hinata finally cleared her throat. "Umm... Naruto. I need to get d-dressed." She reminded him.

"Okay."

"I-I-I can't just get dressed in front of y-you!" She protested, her words ending on a loud squeak.

Naruto rolled his eyes and lay back, covering his eyes with his arm. "There. I'm not looking." He told her, and Hinata stared at him distrustfully for a moment before gathering all of her clothes up and hurrying to the bathroom.

"Cheater!" Naruto laughingly called after her before getting up to get dressed himself.

It was going to be a great day.

* * *

There we go! Hahaha! (and if you didn't guess it, they had sex)

I think that the day after would be kind of embarrassing depending on the person (I wouldn't know. I haven't even had my first kiss yet), and I think there would be a lot of embarrassed teasing cuteness with these two.

Notes about the last chapter:

~) No, the two councilors did not have that much power. They were just arrogant, and the boys _chose _to go to training, and Naruto let them (the parents were not happy with this or the councilors, however, because they put the idea into the boys' heads)/

~) In Kami's speech where he said "...I'm guessing that that's why yous were sent you to me, huh?", he was referencing how weak the boys were compared to him, and that they had been sent to him for training.

I'll be seeing you soon, my darlings!


	105. A Day Alone, MisaLee

I'm so so _soooo_ sorry that it took so long to get this to you! It's been almost two weeks and it's been a long almost two weeks. I had my graduation party, had my friend over, went to orientation, got back home in time to got to my grandma's to help with her yard sell and moving (the internet is terrible here), and I have also become addicted to Doctor Who (which I cannot watch because of the internet). Not to mention Kathy went on her own little vacation, so it's been a bit slow on that front. But I have a small moment of steady (but still bad) internet, so I'm bringing this to you.

Here we are, my darlings!

* * *

Misaki yawned lightly as she stepped out of the front door and into the tepid sunshine of the chilled morning, and as she stood there, her face lifted to the thin light, she knew that it was going to be a beautiful day after the sun had warmed everything up. She skipped lightly down the steps of the apartment building until she got down to the street, and after a small pause for a moment of thinking she turned to head into the densest part of the village.

Even though the hour was early, a great deal of the vendors on the market street were already set up and a few early risers were drifting around the stalls. Misaki stepped up to the first one, a produce stall that was run by a thin strip of a man who had the seventy years he had been alive etched heavily into his face.

"Why," He rasped, "If it isn't the lovely young Misaki. The amount you come here, I'm starting to think that it isn't my cabbages and carrots that you come around for."

Misaki laughed and picked up one of the eggplants he had set out, checking its freshness. "It's true, you old charmer you. After all, I could get my fruits and vegetables somewhere else."

They chatted as she picked through what she wanted. About his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, some of whom helped him with his stall; about the children Misaki taught, and the possibility of her teaching his youngest great-granddaughter; about how his business and his crops were doing, and how his arthritis was interfering with everything.

"I actually have a bit of a surprise for you." He said with a crooked grin that forced his creases to deepen and hide his bright and sharp green eyes.

"Oh?" She watched as he bent leaned down from his chair to pull a crate up to his lap, pulling off the lid to reveal a bounty of ripe red berries.

"A bit of a favorite customer allowance." He said, and Misaki could only shake her head and laugh, but feel incredibly touched that he was allowing her to have first pick. Really, he was such a sweetheart.

After picking out what she wanted and probably getting way more strawberries than any normal person would, Misaki settled everything into the bag she had brought and waved goodbye to him and the children who were playing and passing the time behind him, moving on to the other stalls with a friendly smile and hello for all of the vendors she knew and the handful that she didn't.

After a few hours of shopping and conversation, Misaki made her way home to put away the groceries and set aside the trinkets and other things she had bought before grabbing the heavy bag that sat beside the door to hurry out, only having been home for maybe five minutes.

She walked down the street and to a snug little house that had a content little bunch of flowers settled in the little patch of the front lawn. She stepped up to the little door and knocked, and it was only moments before it was opened by a round little woman with slight creases at the very corners of her mouth and eyes.

"Oh, I was worried you were going to be late." The woman fretted, wringing the hand towel she held in her hands from doing her housework, and Misaki smiled as she simply shook her head.

"Of course I wouldn't be late. I know that you're really anxious for your girls to learn how to do the tea ceremony."

"Oh, yes. My mother always said that she wished I would have learned, and when the girls go old enough and after I learned that you had taught Yen's little girl before she got married, I figured it would be a good thing for them to do. And I really am so grateful for you doing this and teaching them. I know that it must take a lot from your day for the both of them."

"It isn't a big deal at all. I have the knowledge, so I might as well spread it around, and I do love teaching children." Misaki said with an easy smile as she followed the woman through the house and to the small slice of a family room where two sullen girls were sitting, one scowling at the wall while the other pouted down at the floor.

"Now girls, Rock-San is here." The mother said in her reedy voice, and the two girls stood to shuffle over to her side and purposely not look at their new teacher. "And Rock-san, this is Hama, my eldest," She placed her hand on the shoulder of the first girl, the one who was currently glaring at a vase, "And this is Rika." She placed her other hand on the shoulder of the slightly smaller girl.

Both girls had their mother's dark brown hair and matching eyes, and their thin faces were pulled into matching expressions of dislike. She supposed, from a critical standpoint, that they would be pretty enough girls when they got older, but only if they stopped making such terrible faces. They looked like they had both been shoved into a room of rotten eggs.

"It is very nice to meet you girls." Misaki said with a warm smile that didn't falter even at the two girls' unenthusiastic mutterings of what she guessed passed as a greeting. "Well, now that we've gotten to know one another a bit, let us get started. We'll go outside on the back porch so that we can have a bit more room and so we won't be in your mother's way."

After convincing the woman that it would be best if she left them alone for a bit instead of hovering, Misaki silently set up everything that she needed before starting, never saying a word as she went through the movements that had been ingrained into her during her privileged childhood.

When she was done she looked up at the girls and noted that while Hama still looked resentful, though there was a small spark of interest in her muddy eyes, and Rika was leaning forward, her eyes bright as they watched Misaki as if waiting for her to start again.

"What else can you do?" The youngest asked, and Misaki smiled. She absolutely loved it when children got enthusiastic. It made teaching them so much more fun.

"Flower arranging and calligraphy, though I'll only be teaching you this for now. Now to get started..."

* * *

Their little class ended and Misaki left after declining the mother's offer for a snack, and she quickly made her way across the village to yet another "student's" house, this one for flower arranging. After that she went to drift around the shops, picking and choosing things she really didn't need, but she thought were just too pretty to pass up.

It was dark when she got home, and she hummed as she took the bags and quickly put everything where it needed to go. The final thing was a blown glass bowl she had gotten at the last shop she had gone to, and after setting it on the coffee table she sat down in the arm chair to admire it.

And after just a moment of sitting there, her smile fell as the quiet of the apartment hit her. It wasn't silent what with the hum of the refrigerator and the ticking of the clock, but the sounds were hollow and lonely. So very, very lonely.

She lifted her legs up so that they were curled up in the chair with her and closed her eyes wearily, tilting her head back against the back of her chair as she remembered that it had been almost two months since Lee had been home, gone off on some kind of mission.

This was why she was always on the move, always going off to do something and be with someone, not wanting to come home to an empty home and be faced with the fact that no one was there and that she was alone.

Sitting in the middle of the dimly lit apartment and her misery, Misaki sat silently with all of the pretty things she had gotten and felt how empty it all was without somebody else there.

* * *

Misaki's entire life, pretty much, revolves around Lee. She does her own things, has her friends and she teaches kids her fancy lady things so that she'll have something to do that will also earn a little bit of money (not needed, but she likes to feel like she's contributing) and will allow her to be with children, but she is severely lonely whenever Lee leaves. It reminds her that she can't have children, and this alone usually makes her feel like a failure, but when she'd alone, worrying about Lee without anything to really do, it's worse.

Misaki became depressed after finding out that she couldn't have children, and this isn't something that just goes away. She's built herself up over the years with Kado and Lee, but it's always there for her, and when she's alone with nothing to distract her, all of that control breaks down and she feels little. She feels like a failure.

A hello to foraslanthelion, my newest sweety! (love your name!) Bye!


	106. Be My Family, MisaLee

With the last chapter, I got the "Misaki feels lonely when she's alone" point across, but I was still a tad bit unsatisfied. Then the internet and the TV went out, and Kathy came back in, looked at what I had done with the last chapter and gave me a solid roundhouse kick to the throat as she reminded me that it really is just better to wait for her because all I can do is make a fool of myself without her.

And this came. It happens immediately after the last chapter.

(Oh, I also made myself a milkshake (I make really good milkshakes) and then I spilled it on my grandma's leg. Go me!)

* * *

Misaki was jarred from the nap she had unknowingly slipped into when someone pounded at the door, making her fall from her seat as she jerked awake and slipped down, blinking at the darkened room in confusion from her place on the floor until another knock prompted her to get up.

Once she had collected herself she quickly hurried to the door, brushing herself off as she opened up the door to the greatest surprise she had had all day.

"Kado-kun!" She exclaimed, eagerly opening the door for the slightly sullen boy to enter, "How wonderful to see you!" And it was. It really, really was.

"What do you think you're doing, just opening the door like that without even checking for who it was?" Kado immediately started as he slipped past her, his fists shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans as he scowled at the older woman who just smiled happily at him, his silver eyes bright behind the curtain of curling black hair that slightly fell over them. "What if I hadn't have been me?"

"But it was you." Misaki replied chipperly, "And this really is a very nice neighborhood. Nothing would have happened."

"Misaki." Kado said slowly, as if talking to a dull child, "You cannot just open the door like that. You need to be a bit more self aware."

"I'm fine!" She said on a laugh, "And now you're here, aren't you? You can protect me if any big bad beastly men come around."

Kado blushed brightly at this and grumbled a bit, but calmed down as Misaki drew him into the kitchen to try out her newly acquired produce in a new recipe that she hoped the boy would love. She told him about her day as she cooked, and listened with a smile as he told her everything she had done wrong.

"...And you can't just go running around all over the village by yourself all day long while being so vulnerable!" He finished, and Misaki only laughed.

"Really now, what do you want me to do? I made a commitment to my students, and I really do promise that I'm not as defenseless and you believe." Misaki said confidently just as the smell of smoke and burning food hit her nose. Drawing open the oven door, they both looked in at the stuffed tomatoes Misaki had made and had apparently nearly incinerated.

Looking up, Misaki noticed something.

"How did the temperature get to 500? I could have swore that I put it on 375." She pondered this for a moment as Kado took the largely blackened foods off of the pan to put on each individual plate, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling as he tried to decide what the wisest course of action would be.

"You really cannot be left alone." He muttered, mostly to himself. "What if you had forgotten them and went to just go and take a shower? You would have burned the entire apartment complex down!"

"Then stay here with me." Misaki said before really thinking about it, but immediately after the words had passed her lips she knew that she would never take the words back. She wanted it so badly. She wanted him, and she wanted to have someone there to come home to. Someone to keep the loneliness away.

It was selfish, and it was perfect.

"_What?_" Kado yelped after a minute of gaping, and Misaki turned to him, absolutely determined.

"Stay here. Take one of the spare rooms, and stay with me. Lee will be gone for at least another month, and I think it is a wonderful idea. A perfectly and wonderfully amazing idea."

"But... But..." Kado gasped, and wondered where all the air had gone to.

Misaki was asking him to come live with her. To be there for her. And... His own room. His own apartment with people he cared about. People who actually liked him. And Misaki.

It was impossible.

It was so wonderful.

"You can't just borrow an orphan, Misaki." Kado finally said, and the woman stood up resolutely.

"Of course I can. Just watch me." She said as she marched over to the phone. "Oh," She said casually as she dialed, "And borrowing entails that I'll give you back, and I never said anything about that, did I?"

Kado could do nothing more than gape at her because she meant it. She wanted to keep him.

Would Lee be okay with it? He didn't think the orphanage would be.

"Hello, Eri, it's Misaki. Oh yes, I'm fine, and how are the boys doing? Did Takashi get over his cold? Oh, I bet Kiba had fun with that. Oh no, I don't have any questions about that right now, but I would like to talk to the Hokage very quickly, if that would be alright with you. It's just a tiny bit of a non-lethal emergency... Mhmm, thank you. Of course I'll watch the boys Thursday night! You and Kiba really should get out a bit more. Goodbye." There was a pause before she took a deep breath.

"Yes, how are you doing, Hokage-sama? That's good. I actually have a slight favor to ask, and I do promise to pay you back. Mhmm. Well you see, do you remember that boy Lee and I told you about? Mhmm. Well, I want him. He's at my house right now, and I really would like him to stay. Mhmm. Mhmm. Thank you very much, Hokage-sama. I'll see you at the cookout, bye-bye."

After she hung up and turned to Kado with a proud smile on her face, the boy could barely decide what to do or say. She had the Hokage on speed dial, and had just said that she had not only talked about him to the powerful man, but had also said that she was keeping him.

"Well, I'll go and fill out all of the paper work tomorrow, but you can just stay here tonight." Misaki said easily as she sat down at her seat to start eating, and Kado could only numbly do the same, not even tasting the charred remains of the food as he ate it. He didn't even notice he was crying until Misaki came over to wrap him into the surprisingly sturdy safety of her arms, brushing his tears away gently as some of her own flowed down her face, carried on a happy laugh.

* * *

All of the sudden, Misaki and Eri are pretty decent friends (Misaki watches the boys for her when Kiba has missions and Eri has work), and Naruto helped her because, while they are not close, he and Lee are friends, he knows Misaki, and he'll help anyone who needs him.

And Lee will be more than perfectly fine with this. There will even be tears.


	107. To Catch a Thief, KakaSaku

Hello again, my darlings! I was in the middle of typing up another chapter when my adored muse flew down from the heavens and graced me with this idea like a cinder-block thrown at my face from the back of an out of control eighteen wheeler on the highway.

So I typed it right up for you!

* * *

Hatake Kakashi never panicked. Ever. He was the great copy-ninja, he had fearlessly gone up against the Akatsuki and had fought side by side with the strongest nin of the ages in the fourth shinobi war. In their childhood, he had trained the man who would one day be Hokage and one of the strongest kunoichi of her time, both of whom had gone on to be apprentices to one of the Sannin, and even his strayed student had gone on to be so incredibly powerful. So he never, never panicked.

Except for, of course, when he came home to see that his copy of _Icha Icha Violence _was missing from the shelf it always stayed on unless he was reading it.

Swallowing hard and ignoring his furiously beating heart, Kakashi carefully made his way to the shelf to find that all of the traps he had set up—one of the more foolish and popular dares within the village for ninjas of all rank and age was to steal any of his books, an annoyance he had to put up with at least once a year—had all been skillfully disabled.

He breathed deeply through his nose as he tried desperately to calm down and figure out how this had happened. Very few should be able to get past the traps on his apartment, and only a handful would be able to even _touch _the ones he had on his shelves.

Making the necessary hand signs, Kakashi knew that no matter what he had to get to the bottom of this.

"Ah, Kakashi," The small pug who appeared with a puff of smoke sighed, "I do hope this is an emergency. I was in the middle of a very intriguing-"

"Then you'll need to be quick." Kakashi snapped. "I need you to sniff out who took my book."

Pakkun blinked and then turned to look up at the shelve where there was an obvious empty space where Kakashi's prized possessions always sat, and he could only grunt out a short and gruff laugh.

"Well, whoever did this is certainly going to be regretting this very soon." He said simply before quickly and thoroughly went over the apartment with his highly sensitive and dependable nose.

"Nothing and no one out of the ordinary." He said when he was done. "And the scents that are most concentrated around the bookshelf are yours and... that one who always has the stick in his mouth."

Kakashi narrowed his visible eye dangerously, the charcoal black burning before freezing dangerously. He could remember his "_friend's" _voiced interest in reading his collection, and the way he always seemed to gravitate to the shelf whenever he came by.

He nodded to the ninken and hurried out of his apartment, grabbing his pouch on the way out because he didn't know how hard his dear friend would fight him. After all, he had done the impossible and had stolen from Hatake Kakashi. There was no way he was going to give up without a fight.

"Have fun." Pakkun called out to him, the amusement heavy in his voice as the door quietly swung closed as the man disappeared.

* * *

Genma was having a pretty good day. His long time "lady friend" had asked him over to her apartment for dinner that night, hopefully a move forward in their relationship. He had won a free meal during lunch, and an old lady had given him a cake after he had helped her with her grocery bags. And, to top it all off, there was a lucky coin laying on the ground in front of him in the alley he was currently taking a short cut through.

Of course, all of that good was negated when, as he was straightening up with his happy little coin in his hand, he found a kunai at his throat and a familiar and surprisingly malicious presence behind him.

Deciding to stay calm for the moment until he figured out what was going on, Genma stood up—very conscious of the extremely deadly weapons at his throat and back—and relaxed.

"Why hello, Kakashi. I really didn't know that you were so stingy that you would attack your poor friend for a single coin, but you can have it if you want it. All you have to do is ask." He said easily.

"I'm not in the mood for jokes, Genma. I just want my book back." Kakashi said lowly, and had Genma been a weaker man he would have been shivering and whimpering from the tone. But he wasn't, so all he did was scrunch up his face in confusion.

"What are you talking about? What book?"

"Really, what sort of book do you think I would be doing this for?" Kakashi asked slowly, and with that Genma got it, and all he could do was laugh.

"Kakashi, do you think that I would really be so stupid as to take one of you _Icha Icha _books? I like a good joke every now and again, but not one where I would end up dead or seriously maimed."

There was a pause where the depth of their friendship and Genma's intelligence were both critically looked over by Kakashi, and then Genma found himself free. Deciding that it would be best just to move on and leave instead of making a big deal about the whole thing—after all, Kakashi was a man on a mission and he preferred all of his body parts in their current and proper order—Genma continued on his way, lifting his hand to his old friend in goodbye.

"Good luck then. Remember to keep the guy alive!"

Kakashi blew out his breath as the other man turned the corner to get onto the street, and could only wonder who it could have been. Pakkun hadn't smelled anyone else, and being able to hide their scent from his ninken was not something any ninja he had ever met could do.

"Well now, is that how you treat all of your friends?" Kakashi jerked slightly at the question and the questioner, but could only breathe deeply as he reminded himself that he was not in the best of moods right now, so he didn't even bother to turn and look at her.

"Not now, Sakura." Maybe later, after he had calmed down a bit and had found his book and the idiot that had taken it.

"Hmm... You know, I've always liked the first and third better, but _Violence _has some good parts too." She mused, flipping though the pages.

Kakashi's head snapped up to where the pink haired girl sat perched on the edge of the roof of the two story building that the alley ran by, and then he found himself riveted to the sight of the book in her hands.

His book.

His book that she had stolen.

His book that she had stolen and was now _laughing _about.

That little witch.

"How did you get Pakkun to lie to me about your scent around the bookshelf?" He asked as he leaned back against the wall as he looked up to her, hands in his pockets as he started to relax, his anger fleeing in the presence of pride. She had managed to get past all of his traps, bribe his most faithful ninken, and then mask her presence from him and even Genma up there on her little perch. He had to hold back his smile, because letting her know that he thought she was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen most definitely wouldn't help with her attitude.

"Oh, I promised to make him a couple of steaks. I think he's eating one right now." She said easily, her lips twitching up into a grin as she looked down at her lover. "You may be their master, Kakashi, but I cook for them. As long as it isn't any harm to you I could get them to do just about anything I wanted."

Kakashi couldn't stop his chuckle, he really couldn't. It was just that every thing about him—him, his dogs, his entire life—was wrapped securely around her little finger.

"Alright then. But what's this about? Why steal my book, and your least favorite of the series at that?"

"Well, you see," She said as she folded the book over her finger to hold her place, "What with missions, Naruto becoming the new Hokage and just general life, we haven't seen each other for about two months now. I got a bit tired of it, so I made up a little plan."

"Stealing my book to get me to spend time with you was your plan?" He asked her, thinking that, other than the danger she had put others and his book into, this was one of the cutest things she had ever done.

Sakura nodded, and her grin grew even wider.

"Oh yes. And did I ever tell you that chapter twenty in this particular book is one of my favorites?" She asked him deceptively innocently. "Do you happen to remember that chapter?"

Oh, he most certainly did.

He moved to push off of the wall and go up to her and take her somewhere for some much needed privacy—what he wanted to do to her would certainly need it—but Sakura held up a finger to stop him, waving it at him slowly. Tauntingly.

"Wait just a minute there. I caught you," She said as she slowly stood on the thin little ledge she had been sitting on, "So now it's your turn to catch me."

And she disappeared.

Kakashi grinned as he waited for just a handful of seconds—no reason for this to be over with too soon—and then he was off and running, racing over the rooftops of Konoha quicker than the ordinary eye could see.

The chase was on.

* * *

Tada!

A hello to my newest baby fallenfromlighttodark (thank you for the compliments, my darling, and also for the tears (is it bad that I smile when I read that I have made people cry?)) and then a WOOHOO! for getting over fifty thousand views.

Now to my other sweeties-

JacksonKid- *GASP!* Not the puppy dog eyes!

sylversmith- No, Kathy wasn't at fault for the milkshake spillage, that was just my natural clumsiness. And yeah, I guess Lee does go on more missions in my mind. Everyone else eases up a bit because of their families (though they still go on missions) and also because they get other jobs (like Hokage), but Lee only has Misaki, and he also still probably wants to challenge himself as a ninja and get even stronger.

Bye-bye, my lovelies!


	108. A Flickering Flame

Hello my darlings! How are you? I'm fine, thank you for asking, in fact, I've brought a little chappie with me to hopefully brighten your day a bit.

This is about Rin and Karin's teammate Nanami. The italic parts that interrupt the flow are Nanami's thoughts (she's crazy. get over it.) The story is not one of my best, but it is a lot of fun to write Nanami. I had fun, so you better too.

Or else. Muwahahaha.

(There is no real threat here. In all actuality I'd give all of you cotton candy and hugs if we ever met.)

Well then, please proceed, my dearest ones.

* * *

They were running. That was a normal thing ninjas did, Nanami knew, but she wasn't all that sure that this was the right kind of running. Ninjas ran towards danger, towards missions and glory and the greater good. But this running was different.

They were running away.

_Retreat._ A part of her mind reminded her. _It's a tactical retreat. You were far outnumbered and their power far exceeded yours._

Karin ran beside her, panting as she looked over her shoulder occasionally to check the—_Is it a mob, A pack, a flock or a group? A murder of crows to come and scratch out our eyes with blood tinged claws?_—enemy that followed close behind.

They were big and powerful and thirsty for their blood, and they were getting so close that Nanami could feel their breath—_So foul, the smell of cinders in a bloody hearth—_brushing over the hairs at the nape of her neck.

"I should have listened to Rin." Karin whimpered—_Small lost child, searching for a mother in the night—_and Nanami agreed with her wholeheartedly.

They had found a camp of rogue-nin, a small camp of eight or nine, and Rin, the team leader, had told the two girls to keep an eye on the—_Beasts, men who are no longer men but are men—_group while she went and got backup. But Karin—_The little girl who reaches out for the glory with already cupped hands, eager for the pride of the father and the pride of the mother—_had figured that they could take them. There weren't that many.

They had been in the middle of it all when the other twenty had arrived, all of them far exceeding the power of two-over eager teenage girls who were already running a bit low on chakra.

So, they ran.

There was only a momentary tingle of her senses warning her of the danger, but that fleeting moment was enough for her to duck and roll, the kunai passing harmlessly through the air where she had previously been, and Nanami quickly regained her footing, though it was a few paces behind where she would have been had she gone on uninterrupted—_Better the loss of footing than the loss of a head, especially when there is not one to spare_.

They broke through the trees and their eyes widened when they saw that their desperate race would be interrupted. Quite a rude and unavoidable interruption, really, what with the cliff just suddenly appearing there. They started to slow as they got closer to the edge, coming to a stop a few yards from the end, able to see the furious river below that churned and thrashed within itself.

But those ninja were still coming, and now they were so close that the two girls should have been dead already. But they were toying with them—_The prey that fights a useless fight tastes better going down that one who only fell—_and they wouldn't let it end so soon.

_What does the mouse do, when faced with the malicious feline and the obstacle that is nothing but air?_

_Fly_.

Narrowing her eyes, Nanami grabbed onto Karin and ran, and even though the pale haired girl fought against her hold she did not win because Nanami held tight and dragged her away from certain death, instead running and pushing off of the edge of the cliff as they leaped, catapulting through the air before dropping down, down, down.

_Down to the gates of wrath we go._

They hit the water hard, like a water filled balloon hitting concrete, though thankfully they did not burst. Nanami felt it throughout her entire body and she opened her mouth on a gasp, and the rushing river water quickly filled it. She struggled for a bit as the current pushed her under and to the side, left and then right and then up and then down, but suddenly she was up, all the way up, and for a moment she was free.

Coughing and hacking, she tried her hardest to stay up, but all she could do was struggle as she was forced under again.

_"__You know what, Nanami, I think I love water more than dry land. Maybe I'm a fish!"_

Narrowing her eyes at the murky darkness she couldn't see through, Nanami ordered her body to work like she wanted it to, and she relaxed even though her mind and her lungs protested. She relaxed and allowed the river to beat at her—_Taunting and laughing and so foolish as it plays—_until she moved with a single and desperate punch of the final dregs of her chakra that momentarily blew the water away to allow her air before it rushed quickly back, though this time she was on top of it.

And then she saw a tangled mop of messy white strands struggling so hard, so she reached out and grabbed on, and after the initial fight Karin calmed down when she figured out that it was Nanami. And as the river once again roared—_They were the cats but this is the king; no feeling, no heart, only power you will bow under—_dragging them under and squeezing them until their lungs threatened to pop, the two girls did not let go, keeping everything within them focused on maintaining what was left of their chakra to enhanced grip.

* * *

Nanami wondered how long they had been beneath the water. It couldn't have been minutes, because even the slowest minutes pass faster than their time did. It had been hours. Days. Months.

_Impossible. _Part of her whispered, but every other part of her whispered back that it was true.

But true or not, suddenly she hit something hard, something that made her nearly let go of Karin, though she managed to hold on with sheer force of will alone.

And the pounding of the river was gone, it stopped pulling at them and pushing at them and rushing through and past them—and Nanami knew that they weren't dead because she had heard once on good authority that your clothes wouldn't be wet on the other-side—and then, even more suddenly and astoundingly, their heads broke up to the surface.

The coughed and hacked and gasped and croaked until they both regained their breath, occasionally spitting out the water that crept into their mouths and they kicked their legs so that they could stay afloat.

It was dark. That's all there was, the darkest darkness Nanami had ever seen, and the cold and wet water that had only moments ago swallowed them alive without mercy.

"Oh God." Karin choked, and she moved with a mad rush of water as she blindly punched Nanami with the hand that wasn't holding onto her desperately.

"You are _CRAZY!_" She shouted, her voice echoing endlessly, "You threw me off of a _cliff_! Who does that? I mean it, really, what sane person does that?!"

"I did not throw, I merely dragged. And we're both alive, aren't we?" With her free hand Nanami started to feel around, drifting away slightly as she held on tight to her lifeline as she searched. "We also established far before this moment that I am not sane. I do wish you would remember that. Also, you should know that I found a rock." _A rock in a storm, though it will be quickly weathered by the rain._

There was silence before Karin finally sighed.

"A rock?"

"Yes. One we can hold on to since I don't think that we can continue like this for too much longer." Giving the girl a tug, they both quickly got on either side of the rock and held on, keeping skin to skin contact with each other all the while.

"I think we're in an underwater cave or something since it's so dark. Not to mention the echo and the miracle of air."

"If we are, that may mean that we could run out of air." Nanami murmured as she pressed her cheek to the cool stone, wishing that it were warm.

The silence that blanketed the two of them after that comment was heavy until Karin sighed.

"Thank you for that, Nanami. It makes our situation _so_ much easier."

"I'm not saying it will happen, only that it is a possibility."

Karin simply sighed—_words restrained from the tongue come out in a breath of barely held civility—_and they fell into silence before the white haired girl suddenly spoke up.

"Talk. I'll go crazy if you don't say something to get my mind off of the fact that we'll die from drowning. Or hypothermia. Or, hey, according to you, suffocation."

Nanami thought for a moment. "This water feels to be roughly about fifty degrees, so hypothermia shouldn't actually set in for a little less than half an hour or so." She said conversationally, and Karin groaned as if in pain.

"_Thank you_, Nanami. That is exactly what I wanted to hear right now." _Sarcasm is carried upon a sharp tongue that stabs others thoughtlessly; watch how the blood bleeds into the black._

"Okay, how about this? You tell me the story of your braid. I've been dying to know, and since we're about to actually, you know, _die_, it might be nice to tell someone."

"I never thought I'd be here again." Nanami said in an amused tone, and Karin groaned, wondering if she'd ever be able to get the blonde to mentally stay in one place.

"...What do you mean?" She finally muttered, her voice slightly muffled from burying it into her arm.

"Clinging like a leech to the skin of the earth as the water tries to swallow me whole. It tried so hard the last time, beating and rushing and swirling, pulling at me as if it were begging me to play. But I refused. Maybe now..." She chuckled lightly, "Maybe now it has come back because this is where I belong." _The water reaches into the lungs to pull out the air that is left, bubbles rising to the surface as water embraces you in its place._

_Sinking down, down, down..._

There was silence. Utter silence but for the sound of water lapping at distant cavern walls.

"Nanami, what are you talking about?" Karin asked carefully, lifting her head up as she strained to see through the nothingness that surrounded them to the other girl.

It was true the girl was crazy, but this was different crazy. This was dark and painful, a weeping crazy that chilled the unknowing girl far faster than the water that surrounded them would ever dare to.

"Did you know," Nanami said lightly as she closed her eyes, pressing her forehead to the rock they clung to now, "That I once had parents? Sometimes I barely believe it either, but it's true. But even better than that, I had a friend. She was the best, really. A best friend if there ever was one." She laughed as she thought back to it, and grinned widely.

"Oh yes. The best..."

* * *

The little girl walked quickly to the small watering hole, repeating to herself again and again all of her excuses. She already knew them, of course, but her parents always said that repetition led to excellence, so if she repeated the lies enough in her head, maybe in theory they'd be even better lies.

Though, the probability of this was slim.

When she got to the small pool it was already occupied by another older girl who was happily swimming, but that was what made this secret place so wonderful. That girl.

Said girl looked up when she heard the sounds of footsteps getting closer and grinned when she saw who it was.

"Hello, Nanami." The elder girl called, the seventeen year-old swimming a bit closer to the edge of the deep water.

"Hi Minori." The small child said, a large smile on her face as she went to her friend.

Her only friend.

She was a smart child, so very gifted and able to outsmart men who had lived to nearly the end of their lives, and her parents relished in it. They attempted to mold her, to force her to perfection, and they kept her hidden away from everyone else, studying and learning and becoming so lonely that she couldn't even cry anymore.

But one day she had left, she had rebelled and had never been happier or more confused. Happy because she was finally free, but confused because her parents had always said that she would be happiest to stay inside and study and ignore everyone else.

And then she had come across the pool and the girl with the bright blue eyes and the dark black hair, and had asked her a question because questions were the best way to learn, along with books.

_"__Are parents wrong?"_ She had asked, and the teen had laughed.

_"__Of course they are." _The girl had said,_ "__Everyone is."_

* * *

"And so I had a friend, once upon a time and far far away, in a different story within a different memory." Nanami whispered as Karin listened, curious to learn about the girl who was more mystery than reality.

"And it was quite beautiful."_A flower without thorns, but with honey that is sweet upon dying lips._

* * *

"I don't like this!" Nanami whimpered as she held onto Minori for dear life, her small arms wrapped tightly around her neck as the elder girl walked out further into the water. Minori merely laughed and lifted the five year old a bit higher, rubbing a soothing hand over her back as they went out further and further, the water rising up higher and higher.

The elder girl sat down when she found the rock that she wanted, and the water went up to just below her shoulders, making the small child panic and start to struggle.

"Hey, hey now. It's not that bad, chick. I've got you, and I'm the best swimmer around. You know what, Nanami, I think I love water more than dry land. Maybe I'm a fish!"

"That's impossible both genetically and physically." The little girl whispered, and Minori just chuckled.

"Alright, smartie-pants, but you'll still be fine."

"People have been known to drown in less than two inches of water."

"But they didn't have me." The teen patiently pointed out, and after a moment of thinking Nanami let her arms slide down so that she could lean back.

They started slowly with Minori's hands holding her up as she went through the movements. Water was swallowed and went up her nose, but throughout the entire thing the comforting feeling of her friend's hand holding her up steadied her.

And then it was gone.

She thought about panicking, but it was a fleeting impulse that she quickly suppressed. She didn't want to disappoint the only person that she knew actually cared for her.

So she tried her hardest. She spit out the water that invaded her mouth and moved her arms and legs rapidly, keeping her head mostly above the water until Minori picked her up again.

"You did it!" She said happily, grinning at the girl as she held her up and patted her back as she coughed. And Nanami grinned, for the first time feeling the delightful burn of accomplishment.

After a little bit Minori brought in a ball that the little girl clutched so that she could float, kicking her legs so that she could swim around and keep her head above the water without any help from the older girl.

"I think water is my element." Minori sighed as she floated on her back, moving her arms lazily through the water to move. "I just feel better in it. I think better because it clears out my thoughts and sort of just... lays them out for me. It's very relaxing." She sighed contentedly and glanced over to see the extremely concentrated look on Nanami's face as she tried her hardest to kick her way back and forth through the pond.

She stifled a laugh, and grinned widely at her.

"I wonder what yours is. I don't really think it's water." She stood up and waded back over to the girl to pick her back up, ignoring the whining protest for '_Just another minute! I almost got it!' _"Maybe earth, because you're so steady. Or fire, because you're so determined."

"I don't even believe stuff like that! You can't associate an element to an aspect of somebody's personality!" The child piped, and Minori only laughed.

"Maybe one day," She confided, "You will."

* * *

"She didn't treat me like a child. She treated me like a friend, because she knew that I so desperately needed one. She even told me what she would tell a friend that was her same age." Nanami confided to the darkness and her teammate. "She told me about boys. You see, our village was a small one that housed a single clan. I've seen some of them around the village, though I don't approach them."

_"__Ninja are strong, and I do find strength appealing, but I couldn't be with one. Especially one from here. I feel like I can't really trust a man who takes better care of his hair than his life."_

"She told me about everything, as I did to her. My parents..."

_"__I am your mother, the one that is responsible for giving you the gifts you are squandering! That girl will give you __**nothing**__worthwhile, but if you stop acting so petulant and actually __**LISTEN **__to me, you will see that I can guide you to so many things! So many __**better**__, __**richer**__, more __**worthwhile**__things. And you only just have to stop meeting with that girl."_

"...They weren't happy. They didn't want me to see her any more."

_Even if you swat the moth away from the light, it will still search for the heat._

"I'm... sorry." Karin said quietly, not quite sure where she was going with this. But she'd listen, because it was so much easier than focusing on how cold she was, and how much colder it was steadily getting.

"Oh, it's all right. In the end, when the sky shattered and the mountains bowed, I didn't have to worry about it." Nanami said easily.

"W-What?" Karin stuttered out, her teeth slightly chattering until she clenched her jaw to stop it. Silence was all that met her question, and they stayed like that for a few unbearably long minutes before the eccentric girl turned story teller decided to speak again, a little bit quieter this time, as she remembered.

"My birth-village—well, more of a slim town, really, where you could reach outwards with both arms and tickle the sides—was made in the deep valley of what used to be a lake. It was damned off years before the distant thought of me drifted down like dust in a beam of sunlight, and people grew out from the fertile land and the close and bountiful water supply. I went to the damn once and stood on the edge with the wind pushing at my back from the steep drop of nothingness and the water pushing against the wall in front of it, angry and desperate to be free. And oh, when it finally got its wish, it was a sight to behold. And Minori and I, we had the perfect seats for the show."

* * *

There had been no warning of the damn breaking, only a rush of water that tore the trees from the ground with a single furious strike and that roared to the town with a self-righteous fury.

They had been high up on the hill that held the town so they hadn't been toppled by that first unceremonious rush, but the water had caught them as they had ran, gripping their feet and tripping them so that they fell into the frothing water, the current pushing them and then pulling them under.

Terrified, oh so very terrified and so very small and suddenly alone, Nanami tried to scream, but water rushed in. She thrashed and kicked and fought and _hurt_, but the water was everywhere, and there was no air and no land and nothing to save her. Her body ached. It told her that she had been fighting for too long, and it was so very easy to believe it as you drifted through nothingness, blackness following your eyes everywhere as your chest tightened and your throat seemed to strangle itself.

And so she sank, down down down down, down until she was floating away. But then there were arms, solid and strong and dependable and trembling, and they wrapped around her and held her close as only one person ever had as they started to go up.

The air as it touched her face when they finally broke free from the abyss was cold, and the taste of the water coming out of her throat was rancid and stale as Nanami choked and tried to draw in a breath she wasn't all that certain she had ever had before. After a few minutes, she realized that she heard a voice. A most beautiful and wonderful voice that shook and trembled and held tears and fears, and so little hope.

"... It's okay, everything will be okay. You're okay, Nanami. I'm here now. Just calm down and breathe, because it all will be okay."

Minori continued to repeat this as Nanami choked and coughed, and finally the small girl relaxed into her older friend's arms before realizing that Minori was swimming, her legs kicking beneath the surface as her free arm swept it. Lifting her head, Nanami saw that the dark that had been falling as they had walked back home was now almost solidly set into place, and that they were in the middle of water that had not been there before.

"M-Minori?" Nanami managed to stutter out before being squeezed tighter by the arm that held onto her before being shushed.

"Hey, it's okay. It's just that the..."

"The damn broke." The child helpfully and logically filled in for her after she led off, unsure of what _had _happened. "That's the only thing that could have happened."

"Right. Okay. Well, what ever happened, we have to find something steady to hold onto because I cant swim the two of us forever."

They swam over to where the top of a still standing tree peeked out from the water, skeleton branches, crooked and bare, reaching out and up to claw at the sky scratching at their skin as they forced their way through them to get to the main body.

"Don't worry." Minori panted as they clutched the tree desperately, wincing slightly as a some sort of debris that was drifting through the water on the current tore at one of her legs as it went past, "Help will come soon. One of the ninja, probably." And then, as if some divine force only wished to torture and laugh at them, there was a sudden explosion that rang their ears and forced them to clutch tighter to the tree.

"What was...?" Minori murmured as she lifted her head to see that a little ways away, at the edge of all the water, a fire burned brightly and strongly and so big and so amazing, reaching out and up, defeating the night and reflecting against the rippling of the still rising—though quieter—water.

"The town." Nanami whispered through numb lips she was surprised to find actually working, "That is where the town is."

Her mind, her clever little mind, started piecing it together from the pieces of the information she was able to see at the time.

The water had probably hit something important, or maybe knocked something over.

The oil. She remembered hearing about the oil reserve that the town used to heat and power itself, and how unsteady it was. How perhaps there should be precautions taken. But they hadn't. After all, what could disrupt their perfectly calm and unchanging little lives?

The fools.

"Oh God. Oh... Oh my God." Minori whimpered like the scared child Nanami was on the inside. The two of them continued to clutch the tree and pray to their faceless gods for what seem to be entire infinities though it had only been less than half an hour, but then Nanami felt her friend stiffen behind her, and she turned her head to see familiar eyes lit by the reflecting flames and determination.

"I'm going to find help." She said firmly, and as the little girl who pretended to be so big watched her only friend pull away, she felt a panic she had never felt before clutch at her throat and threaten to tear tears from her eyes.

"Wait! No! Please! You can't! You don't know what will happen, and you just can't!" Nanami protested shrilly, pulling one of her arms away from the tree so that she could clutch onto the wet and heavy fabric of the older girl's shirt.

"I'm sorry," She said gently, "But I need to. I'm the only one right now who can find a way to save us, and maybe if I was some incredible hero or ninja I'd know what to do, but right now I'm not and all I can think of doing is going to find help." She carefully removed the small and desperate hand from her shirt and shoved herself back into open water, allowing the current to pull her further and further away. "Don't worry though! I'll be right back!" She called back as she swam away, fading from the child's vision as her eyes filled with tears.

"Don't leave me!" She screamed out, but no one was there to hear. No one was there to answer.

No one was there.

Nanami buried her face into her arm as she sobbed, and when that eventually and inevitably stopped she lifted her head to look around and hope the impossible hope that someone—anyone—was there.

But there was no one. Just her, the water that forced her teeth to clack and her muscles to quiver and shiver and shake, and the the fire that burned so high and so bright, begging her to come closer.

Leaning her head against the rough bark of the tree, Nanami watched as her life burned to ash as she wished she could do the same.

* * *

"That night, there were only a hand full of survivors that scattered along like dandelion fluff afterward, just wishes on the winds searching for a new home. Some people forgot, turning away and closing their eyes as they pushed it to the backs of their minds to dream about later. Others moved on and kept it quiet, only bringing out the memories in the quiet times as a story to thrill and terrify and be nothing more than a story to those that heard it. But then there are the few that stared that night right in the eye, that watched that fire roar and the water hiss, and then remembered it piece by crooked piece, and they all went positively mad from it." She gave a small laugh.

"I suppose you can figure out which one I was."

Silence stretched between them until it was so taunt that it felt like it was about to break into pieces, but then Nanami sighed, apparently still not done.

"I waited there for what felt like hours, but then I saw a man walking on top of the water like some crooked god, his hair and clothes in tatters and looking so incredibly weary. I was able to tell he was a ninja because his hair was so long, nearly dragging behind him in the water. No one else in our little pocket village would have wore their hair like that other than that little clan of ninja. And I was just a little girl, you see, so young with an knowledgeable old brain and with a sanity that was shredding itself as I just waited for my one and only friend to come back, and all that little child could do was reach out for help with pruned hands and a broken heart."

* * *

She tried calling out to him, that shadowed figure of a man that passed by her, but her throat was raw and her words were lost to a croak of a sound that couldn't be heard over the horrors that continued on around them. And he was leaving, her one single flicker of hope and he was leaving her behind.

And so she pushed off of that tree and into the open abyss of water.

Desperation was the only thing that kept her up, the rapid kicking and flailing of her arms and legs splashing the water wildly, but still moving her. It was slow going, oh so very slow, but luckily the man stopped when he heard the frenzied splashing, giving the little girl just enough time to reach out and grab onto his ankle, holding on for dear life as he jumped and nearly sank down.

"Please," Nanami managed, her voice a whimpering and pitiful croak, "Please, help me."

* * *

"We found Minori, that man and me. He carried me around as we walked above it all, and we found her floating amongst bodies of people we had once knew." Nanami was mildly surprised to find that she was digging her blunt nails into the rock, undoubtedly ruining them and cutting her skin if the slight sting of pain was telling. But it was easy to ignore that, for the moment.

"The most terrible thing I remember about that night wasn't the deaths or the fear or the flood or the fire. It was that when we finally got to where the survivors—what few there were—had gathered, the children weren't crying. Instead it was the men, men who had gathered together in war and battle, men who had seen bloodshed and death and pain, and they stood there and watched and sobbed like they were broken."

The silence stretched once more as Nanami rested and as Karin cried for that poor little girl, but before she could give out any of her pity or convey any of the pain for her friend she felt, the other girl grinned and began one last time.

"I still remember that fire, how beautiful and bright it was. It dominated and burned and was so fierce and proud that I finally got what Minori meant when she talked about the connection she felt when she was in the water. It was terrible, I know, but I watched it burn away the remains of my old life, freeing me from it all, and I fell so very deeply in love. But you see, eventually, all flames die." She murmured, sliding back until only her hands were on the cool face of the stone, and then she let herself drift back until she could no longer feel its touch.

"Nanami..." Karin said slowly at the feeling of the other girl moving away and leaving her, "What are you doing?"

"I'm not even a true fire. I'm just a candle that was born that night, a candle who might have burned its wick down to the ground," She mused as Karin started to frantically feel around for her while continuing to hold onto the rock.

"Nanami, stop it. Stop it right now." Karin said in a quivering voice, not liking the direction that this was heading.

"I am, perhaps, at my end." Nanami whispered quietly, more to herself than to the other girl. "And maybe, just maybe, this is a bit better."

"Nanami! Get back over here right now!"

The girl giggled, and it was not a sound that gave the white haired girl any comfort. "Let us see who will win, shall we? The water, or the flames?"

And then she sank.

_"__NANAMI!"_

* * *

The first clue Nanami had as to her still being alive was that she hurt. Everywhere, within every fiber of her being, she hurt. And though her clothes were dry they were thin and left her a bit chilled, which was something she did not enjoy what so ever.

She slowly cracked her crusty eyes open and after blinking a few times she looked over to the side and saw that Karin was curled up in the chair beside her bed, asleep. She wanted to clear her throat to wake her up, but it was too dry and sore so she instead just reached out and tapped her shoulder.

The girl jerked up and blinked the sleep away for a minute before she looked at the smiling girl in the hospital bed, and after a shocked moment of staring at her she reached out and angrily punched her in the shoulder, glaring at her fiercely.

"Do you have any idea what you did to me in that damn cave?! If Rin and the others had been even a minute later, you would be dead right now!" She shrieked, hitting the girl once more for good measure.

Nanami took the abuse silently, waiting until Karin was done before she grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "I am truly sorry for worrying you." She whispered, meaning it completely. She waited for the other girl's acknowledging nod before she continued.

"How did they find us?"

Karin sighed and settled back into her seat, looking up at the ceiling instead of the girl since she was still so incredibly angry.

She had been so scared, those few moments right after Nanami had slipped away and just before Rin had swooped in for the rescue. So, so scared.

"Rin used her eyes to find us, and even if her eyesight is a little less than perfect, it apparently works pretty well when she got desperate enough. And after she figured out where we were they blew through the rocks with couple of nice little jutsus to get to us. Apparently the cavern went up pretty high and the rock above it was pretty thin, so it only took a few minutes to get to us."

Nanami blinked for a few moments before finally asking, "They _blew up _the cliff?" She waited for Karin's hesitant nod before allowing an enormous grin to split her face. "That is absolutely _fabulous_. I'm kind of upset that I missed it."

"Well," Karin said with a newer and fiercer glare, "You wouldn't have if you hadn't tried to _drown _yourself."

Nanami held up a hand to placate her, sighing as she realized that she was never going to live that down. A part of her didn't really mind. It was just Karin's way of caring.

"It was a lapse in what little judgment I have caused by the memories I brought up. It will never happen again." Seeing that she was still faced with that glare, she tried one last tactic. "Cross my heart and if I lie, shove a doughnut in my eye."

Karin couldn't have stopped her laugh if she had tried. "That isn't even how it goes." She pointed out but Nanami only shrugged, and the other girl sent her an amused but warning look.

"Well, you had better be grateful that I'm not telling anyone about it. If I had you would be given a psychological exam, and we both know that you wouldn't have passed that."

The blonde nodded and reached out, grabbing both of the other girl's hands tightly so that she would look at her, meeting her eyes earnestly.

"I know," She said, "And I thank you, my friend."

* * *

I'm not satisfied with the ending, but I've been working on this for a long time and just decided to go ahead and end it.

A quick hello to my newest baby electrickpanda (salutations), and I shall now be on my way to work on more stories while also prowling the dark and dangerous streets, serving justice with a righteous hand.

...

...

Hahahaha! Yeah right. I don't even think Owenton (where I live) has any "dark and dangerous" streets.

Welp, see you soon!

For justice! And cookies! (but mostly cookies)


	109. It Could Only Be You, NaruHina

Hello dearies! I've been doing college shopping, so I've been a busy little bee.

I actually wrote this right after I posted the last one (like the day of) but I got stuck where the ending is, so I just... I'm going to get to the wedding part eventually.

This was originally supposed to be the fourth of the weddings salemboy94 (I do believe that my little dear is still missing without internet) requested such a very very long time ago, but for now it will just be part one since I'm trying to put the proposals together with the weddings (which I'm failing at).

Well, onwards and upwards!

* * *

Hinata was worried. Naruto hadn't been acting like himself for weeks, and she knew that it wasn't just her being paranoid because other people had brought it up. Teuchi and Ayame had come up to her last week and had asked her if anything was wrong since he hadn't been by to get anything to eat there in over a week, she had overheard Tsunade had mentioned something about him being off to Shizune, and then Sakura had said something about not seeing him anywhere for the past week. And then whenever she had seen him or tried to talk to him or approach him, he always got nervous and seemed to immediately find some reason—whether it made sense or not—to go somewhere else. Somewhere where she was not.

She was determined to push away those niggling doubts that taunted her in the back of her mind—he was with another woman or he wanted to break up and other such things—however, until she had a firmer grasp on what was happening and, if she was ever able to pin her boyfriend down, after she had talked to him.

But she wanted a second opinion, so she went to a person who she knew had more experience with boys: Ino.

While they were not the closest of friends, they were at the very least friends. And Ino had had more boyfriends and had more experience than anyone else that Hinata knew, so she figured that it would be best to maybe ask her.

They were walking a path that led to one of the training grounds for the sake of the privacy, and Hinata was grateful for that, at least. She didn't want other people to needlessly stick their nose into her business.

"Well..." Ino said slowly, "If it were anyone else I'd say he was cheating. But this _is _Naruto we're talking about. He doesn't seem like he's the type who would be able to keep that secret and be that dishonest, and then there's the fact that he practically seems to worship the ground that you walk on." Hinata blushed slightly at this, and then sighed.

"Well... What do you think it might be, then?" She asked quietly and nervously, though she was a bit relieved that she didn't think he was cheating.

"Hmm... I don't know. I mean, Naruto's always been weird, but the way you explain it he's been acting a different weird. Have you tried asking him, like pinning him down with kunai and forcing him to listen and talk?"

"No! And even if I had _thought _about doing that, he's gone too fast for me to do anything. I just... I really don't know what to do." She sighed.

Ino nodded sympathetically as she silently tried to think of some kind of somewhat vague and yet useful advice since she was unsure of what to suggest at this point, but out of the corner of her eye she noticed a flash of something unusual, and turning her head she could only stare for a moment.

"Hey, Hinata?"

"Hmm?"

"Isn't that Naruto right over there?" The blonde asked, pointing to the where you could see the training field the path ran past through the trees that dotted the way. Hinata whipped her head around to check and see, blinking as she confirmed that it was in fact her boyfriend and that he was for some reason sitting cross-legged in the middle of the field talking to... another Naruto?

"What is he doing?" Ino asked quietly, not wanting to be noticed by the boy, and Hinata shook her head.

"I... I don't know." She murmured, and the two girls shared a look and a nod before starting to stealthily creep closer.

* * *

"Hinata, I um... I've been thinking recently and... you're great. And I don't mean that I've only been thinking that you're great since just recently! I've always thought you were great! I just mean that I've been thinking about... stuff. Like future... stuff. And when I think about that future stuff, I think about you and me and our... future. Together. And so I was hoping that... No, I was wondering if you'd marry me." Naruto finally managed, letting out a deep sigh at the end, grateful that he had finally gotten it all out. There was a small beat of silence, and then finally an answer.

"No."

Naruto glared at the bored looking clone that sat across from him, at the end of his short and fraying patience. "What do you mean, no?!"

"I mean just that. No. It sucked more than usual." The clone bluntly pointed out, earning an even sharper glare from the original. "There's no way you're getting her to marry you with that."

"Yeah, well, you suck!" Naruto shouted, wincing as he realized that he couldn't even properly form insults anymore. Scowling heavily, Naruto got rid of the clone and then winced as, when the memories flooded him, he had to listen to the jumbled ruins of his practice proposal.

It was even worse than he had thought, and he was worried that maybe the clone had been right..  
He had realized, just from a passing and teasing comment Tsunade had made about how Hinata was going to be a great wife, that that was what he wanted. He wanted a family and more accurately he wanted Hinata to be that family. So he had gone out and had gotten a ring—the perfect ring, one that he had seen and it had made him immediately think of her—but after that he had realized that he just didn't know how to propose.

He knew it was supposed to be all romantic and amazing, but how was he supposed to do that? He'd been trying to think of a way to make it special for her for weeks, but he hadn't had any luck so far. He'd even taken to avoiding Hinata recently since he was afraid that she'd look at him and he'd just blurt it out like he always did and just ruin everything he had been working so hard on.

It was torture, but he knew he had to get this just right. Though for some reason whenever he tried to get the words out they got all jumbled up and tangled and it was just this endless stream of terribleness. He usually had no shortage of words, so this newly discovered lack of them was a shock that he could definitely do without.

With a growl Naruto jumped to his feet and started to pace back and forth, trying to think of exactly what he wanted to say to Hinata. Definitely something that would lead to her saying yes, but there had to be more. Maybe he'd tell her why he wanted to marry her, that way she'd know he was serious. He could also tell her what he thought of her. That _could _help with the self-confidence problem she still had.

It sounded pretty stupid inside of his head, but maybe if he said it out loud it would work itself out somehow.

"Hinata!" He said rather loudly, and unknown to him his eavesdropping girlfriend jumped. "I've known you for a long time, ever since the academy, though it wasn't that well back then. You've... You've always been there for me, supporting me and believing in me even when I didn't notice you, and you've always loved me. No matter what happen or what we went through, you always loved me. It might have taken me a little while, and I probably worried you a bit, but I love you too. You're... You're amazing and beautiful and kind, and you always do the right thing because you are just such a good person. And you make me happy, happier than I've ever been, and so that's why..." He took a breath, wondering why it was so hard to get out even though she wasn't there, "That's why I want to ask if you'd marry me."

Naruto paused a moment before making a face. "Nah," He muttered to himself, "That's not going to work. It's too-"

"YES!"

Naruto whipped around at the surprising shout to find that his girlfriend was standing a little ways away in some bushes that she had apparently been hiding in. She was crying, but he knew—or he hoped that he knew—that they were the good kind of tears. Happy tears.

"Wha... Hinata! How long have you been there? Did you... Did you hear all of that?" He was hoping, just for a moment, that she'd say no. He wanted her to say no because this wasn't how he had wanted it. He had wanted to make it special with flowers and all of that stuff that girls always said they wanted, and he had also at least wanted to be facing her and aware that she was there. But she nodded, still crying, and he figured that the best thing would be just to go ahead and roll with it and hope for the best.

"And you said yes? As in yes, you want to marry me?" He asked her, suddenly nervous. Because what if he had heard her wrong, or what if she had suddenly and inexplicably changed her mind? But she nodded again and gave a watery laugh that instantly banished all of his fears, and then she gave him the most beautiful and the brightest smile he had ever seen.

"Yes!" She said again, laughing happily as he quickly ran to her and picked her up in a little twirl that ended in one of the most wonderful kisses that she had ever had, something that her curling toes would very happily attest to.

When he finally pulled back it was to grin widely at her and wipe away the tears that had started when she had been listening to him say all of those wonderful things as she had slowly realized what was happening and what he had been saying and _why _he had been acting so weird the past weeks.

"I have a ring." He told her, and she could only laugh again and wrap her arms around his neck to beam up at him, oh so very happy on her euphoric high.

"Okay."

"But I left it at the apartment." He told her, a little upset by this fact. He knew that there was supposed to be a ring with the proposal, and he hated that he had messed all of it up, but from the way Hinata was smiling he guessed she really didn't mind.

"Okay." She said again, tugging him back for another smiling kiss.

Still silently sitting in the bushes and not wanting to interrupt the newly engaged couple, Ino dabbed at her eyes with the tissue she had, careful to not mess up her makeup. Not only were her two friends getting married—and they were jut the cutest thing she had ever seen—but since she was there for the proposal, that was pretty much a guarantee that she was going to be a bridesmaid.

* * *

So... There we go!

Hello to my newest dimpled darling Rohain Tahquil who wrote me such a lovely and long review (I love them when they're long!) And you love me so much that you could kiss me? Well pucker up dearie, because I love you too! Thank you so much for the recommendations (will be looking into those) and the ideas (yes! Gimme more! I love ideas! I shall add them to my request document list (it has bullets and numbering and names. It's very organised))

And to xFallingxCastlexWallsx:... YOU GOT IT! I was hoping someone would connect it! Yes, the little ninja clan that was frequently mentioned last chapter was Sora's (Kori's teammate) clan. When Sora was first introduced he said his village was destroyed in a hurricane (something which is now a lie, so I will be changing it eventually).

Thank you guys for the Nanami love! She'll be coming around again some time (not in her own chapter though).

See ya'll soon!

P.S.- Sorry for the crappy title. I'm currently in a dry ditch in the middle of a desert, drowning in sand and heat as I search for inspiration within the ruins of my tired mind. And holy heck, wasn't that poetic?


	110. No Way No How, KibaEri

Hello my dears! I'm b_aaaaaaaaa_ck! And I'm here with a new little chappie!

OKAY! This is for (just a little bit) the people who requested a new KibaEri which would be the glorious ScarsofJupiter and the superbly fabulous Awko Taco Tales. This scene was requested by the luscious (yeah, I'm talking to _you_, sexy) Rohain Tahquil, who said:

**"...I would love to read a scene where Shino asks Kiba about Hana, I think you could have a lot of fun with Shino being blunt, direct and Kiba being thoroughly grossed out..."**

And also to the astounding Arch-Magos Winter, who wished for me to write Shino.

I hope I did alright with this little piece, and if I didn't, I feel as if we should move on and grow as better people from this after forgetting it and burning it to the ground.

And on that note, here we go!

* * *

Kiba walked—really, it was more of a jumping-skip type thing, but no one was willing to admit it, especially not the man himself—down the ratty steps of Eri's apartment building, happily starting on his merry way home to change into something for a few hours of training. He stretched his arms up and then behind his head as he walked with Akamaru at his side, and he thought about what a wonderful day it would be.

The night before had been great, what with Eri proving to him that no matter how many times he thought _no_, she really was just that flexible, and the snuggle time afterward had been good as well—though he would never admit it. And so Kiba was pretty certain that nothing could tamper with the wonderfulness he was certain this day would bring.

Absolutely nothing.

When Shino silently slipped into step beside him Kiba grinned happily at him, not bothered in least when the other man's stoic facial expression didn't even flicker.

"Hey, guess you couldn't wait a few hours to see me, huh?" Kiba asked before laughing slightly at his own joke, though his friend's face remained unchanged.

"Do you know if Hinata managed to find someone to watch the midgets for a few hours so she can train with us?" He asked after he finished chuckling.

After their team had broken away from each other so that they could all pursue their own paths they all had tried to train together at least once a week but as soon as Hinata had gotten pregnant and then pregnant again, that had ended. They were trying to start it up again, but it was sometimes difficult for Hinata to manage to find somewhere to put the kids for a few hours. The one time they had tried keeping the kids with them while they trained hadn't worked since the twins—who had still been babies at the time—had cried for most of the time, thus distracting their mother, and Kori wouldn't stop demanding to be allowed to ride Akamaru and have Shino make his bugs make funny shapes, which Shino had refused every time.

"Yes." The bug user said, "She said that her father wished to spend a few hours with the girls, so she will be dropping them off beforehand." Kiba nodded, and they walked on in silence for a few minutes until the three of them were standing in front of Kiba's apartment building, and had the Inuzaka not known his friend he would have said that he had heard the tiniest and almost unnoticeable sigh come from the boy.

And then, Shino began to speak.

"Kiba, the real reason I came to see you early today is because I am seeking a relationship with your sister, and I have learned that propriety demands that I at least let you know as my friend and as a member of my old team." Shino studied the gaping man in front of him before nodding once. "Well, I have done my duty as your friend, and I will see you in a few hours when we train." And before Kiba could rouse himself from his stupor, he disappeared.

It took a few moments of being frozen in place with his mouth open and a stupid expression on his face before Kiba could react, and by the time that he could Shino was already gone. So with one target gone, he could only race to the Inuzaka clinic.

"HANA!"

* * *

Kiba pouted as Eri laughed at his tale of sorrow and the way he and Hana had gotten into a shouting match before she had thoroughly—and loudly—explained the fact that she could very well be interested in whoever she wished. And, she had managed to tell him, she hadn't known that his little friend was interested in her, but the fact that he was was _very _interesting.

He shuddered as he remembered the look in her eyes. It had been... awful.

"Poor thing." Eri said laughingly as he cuddled against her for comfort—though he would never call it something as disgusting as _cuddling._

"I can't believe that my own friend is betraying me to be with my _sister._ Shino and Hana. Do you know how disgusting that is?!" Kiba demanded to know, and she could only sigh.

"Well, if it makes them happy there isn't really a reason to oppose it. And your sister is a very attractive woman so the fact that Shino has noticed is only natural, and I think that its sweet that they..." Seeing the scandalized expression on her lover's face, Eri could only sigh again and pat his shoulder soothingly.

"Yes yes," She said soothingly, "Absolutely disgusting."

Kiba sent her a disapproving look that she merely smiled away, and with a scowl on his face he could only decide that if a relationship ever really did happen between his friend and his sister, he would never ever _ever_ approve of it.

Ever.

* * *

Well, there's that.

I'm happy that everyone liked the last chapter, and to my dear little fallenfromlighttodark, that would certainly not be anything near copying. Go on, let your creativity flow, you wonderful person you!

Well, I've got a baby shower to get to tomorrow (three of my cousins are having girls within the next few months), and I've also got a new addiction to scarfs, which I use as headbands in my hair.

See ya, my homies.


End file.
